Magnolia University
by 1DragonFire1
Summary: Fairy Tail University AU! Lucy starts her new life at University, wanting to experience the real world. What she didn't expect is the pink haired boy Natsu to tumble into her life. Lucy learns many lessons, during her four years at school, including falling in love.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Fairy tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 1**

Eighteen year old Lucy, stood in front of her father's study, holding a letter in her hand. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door.

"Come in." a gruff voice said.

Pushing the door open, Lucy entered the study. "Hello Father it's Lucy."

Barely looking up from his paper, her father answered. "Lucy, what is it? I am quite busy at the moment."

Taking another deep breath, Lucy steadily asked "Papa, I want just ten minutes of your time, without any distractions. If now is not a good time, I will come back another time."

Looking up, Jude Heartfilia frowned, it has been a long time since his daughter had called him Papa. This must be serious "Alright Lucy, you have my attention."

Lucy, not expecting her father to listen to her and was shocked for a moment. Recomposing herself she began her spiel. "Father I know, how much this company meant for you and Mama. Both of you guys worked extremely hard to get it where it is today. I'm aware the plan was for me to start learning about the company and start transitioning into managing it after I turn eighteen. However I would like to go to college."

Lucy held her hand up, interrupting her father obvious objection "I want to earn my position in the company, not because I am the CEO daughter. By having a college degree, the company shareholders can't object my position."

She handed her father the college acceptance letter, which was in previously in her hand. Taking a less authoritative tone, she continued on "I admit I also have a selfish reason to attend college. I would like to minor in Writing, while majoring in Business. During the summer I will come back and do whatever training I must do." She looked at him pleadingly "Please Papa, I am still so young, I promise that after college I will join the company. Just give me four years to study, so I can also grow independently as well." She finished her rant and stared at her father.

Jude stared at her, deeply stunned, he was not expecting that from his daughter. He considered the points she brought up, it would be good for her reputation if she had a college degree. "Lucy this is the acceptance letter for Magnolia University, it is four hours away from here. Why did you choose this University?"

"Father, Magnolia University is the number one for Business in Fiore. They also have the best professors and classes." Lucy replied ready to defend herself.

"Okay Lucy, I will consider your proposal tonight. Is there anything else you would like to add?"

"Actually there is. I want to experience living like a normal college student. I don't want to go by my last name. I also don't want to have security with me and I want to pay my own rent after my first year."

"Lucy, you are asking for a lot. Do you know who you are? You are the sole heir to the Heartfilia Corporation, I can't let you go without security."

Lucy considered this "How about just Loke? I trust him with my life."

Her father started at her for a moment. She had this all planned out, he was impressed. This is the kind of attitude which is needed for the company.

"Okay Lucy, give me three days to research and consider your proposal. You are dismissed."

Lucy beamed "Thank you so much Papa." She left the room in happy spirits.

Jude sighed and looked at the photo frame at his desk, when his daughter smiled, he was reminded of his wife Layla. He missed her so much, if she was still around, their family would still be happy and connected.

 _Three Days Later_

Lucy was in her room reading her book, she looked up when she heard a knock. It was her maid Virgo. "Your father requests your presence in the study" she announced.

Lucy got up right away, she knew this was the moment that would decide what her life was going to be like the next four years.

She entered her father's study and sat down in the chair opposite to him. There was a small table separating the two of them. On the table was a stack of paper and two pens. "Hello father." Lucy said.

Jude chuckled at her impatient expression. Even though she was now a young lady, she still had those childish qualities to her. "Alright Lucy, I have carefully deliberated and I have decided to let you attend the University." Seeing the huge smile on his daughter's face, made him melt. It had been so long since they have talked and even longer since he has seen her so happy.

"Oh thank you Papa. I promise I won't let you down."

"Your welcome Lucy. However I do have quite a few conditions that you must follow." Seeing her nod he continued on "First of all, I have contacted the Dean and he is the only one who knows who you truly are. To the rest of the school, your name will be Lucy Ashley. Go to the Dean if you have any problems with your identity being leaked."

"Lucy Ashley." She tested the name out.

"Second you are to return back home every winter, spring and summer break. I will be teaching you about the company."

"Alright." Lucy agreed.

"Next, I will pay for your yearly tuition and your first year dorm rent. After that you may pay for your apartment for the next three years. However, the apartment must be in a safe neighborhood and I will send Loke to live near you as well. Lucy, don't hesitate to ask for money, if you need it."

"Okay thank you, that will give me enough time to get a job. So Loke won't join me until my second year?" Lucy asked.

"That is correct. I have talked to the Dean and he has assured me that the dorms are perfectly safe."

"Last condition is that after the four years, you must end any romantic relationships, I will choose your future husband. Also this goes without saying, please don't get pregnant."

Lucy sputtered, "Father I would never.." she protested, but he stopped her.

"Lucy this company means so much to your mother, she had always hoped that you would grow to love it as much as she did. I also would appreciate and be proud if my daughter took over the company I have put so much work into." Jude explained.

"Father I have promised Mama, before she died, that I would take over the company and make her proud. Nothing would stop me from doing that." Lucy said confidently.

"Lucy I know how strong your promises are, but I just need some assurance as well. I have created a contract outlining your conditions and mines." Jude pointed to the papers on the table. "Any violations and you will quit college immediately and come back home."

Lucy looked at the contract, she should have known that he would do something like this, her father was a business man all the way. "May I have a day to read through it?"

Jude smiled. "Spoken like a true business person, you must read everything thoroughly before you sign it."

"I will take this to my room and read over it. Thank you so much Father." Lucy left the room with the contract in her hand.

 _Time Skip towards the end of summer._

Lucy stared at the pile of suitcases in her room. "Virgo!"

Virgo came running gracefully, "Yes Princess?"

"Did you pack all my clothes? I don't need all of them, just the ones we bought recently to fit it with the other students."

"But Princess, you have so many wonderful clothes and accessories." Virgo cried out. She loved dressing Lucy up.

"Virgo, those clothes won't help me fit in." Lucy protested.

"As you wish, princess I will pack your bags again." Virgo relented.

"I have to leave in an hour, please let me know if you need any help."

"Don't worry princess I will have it ready by then." Virgo said determined to pack fast. Lucy chuckled.

This was it. The day she was leaving the mansion and heading off to college. She had barely left the place she grew up in. She had been tutored, so she never went to school before. Lucy was both excited and nervous.

After reading the contract and signing it, she promised herself not to seriously date anyone, as it would end badly for the both of them. However, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to fall in love. She walked around the gardens of the estate once last time and headed back inside.

Her father was waiting for her inside near the entrance of the door. "Lucy, Sagittarius will drive you to the train station. Are you sure you can manage from there?"

"Yes father." Lucy said with tears in her eyes, she didn't dare let them fall.

"Also Lucy, here is a credit card for you. Please use it in emergencies or whenever you need it."

"Thank you, father. For everything." she clarified. "I will be back during the winter break."

She took a small bag and headed outside towards the car. Her father followed her and stood by the entrance of the house, while she continued on. She saw all the maids and butlers watching her leave as well. Lucy was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. She got in the car, with Sagittarius closing the car door. He started the car and Lucy looked out the window. She could see her father watching her.

"Stop the car." Lucy ordered. Sagittarius braked the car suddenly and she ran out the car. With her vision blurring, she ran to her father. She wrapped herself around him and sobbed. "I will miss you so much Papa." She sniffed.

Jude stood awkwardly for a second and then wrapped his arms around her as well. He could feel his shirt getting a little moist and felt her trembling slightly. She was nervous, he thought, she has never been away from home. "Lucy, don't be afraid. If you ever need to come back home, please do. However, your mother would be so proud of you, for stepping out into the world, all by yourself."

Lucy let go of him and stared into his eyes. While she has inherited most of her looks from her mother, she had gotten her father eyes. "Thank you Papa." She wiped her tears and headed back to the car.

Once Sagittarius started the car again, Lucy felt more braver. She would make her father and her mother proud. She looked back, as the mansion gotten smaller and smaller through the distance.

 _AN_ : So yeah. The first thing you probably notice, is that Jude isn't a complete jerk like in the manga. I want them to ultimately have a good relationship. She calls Jude "Father" or "Papa", depending on the situation. Papa is a more loving term, so hopefully she will soon be comfortable calling him that all the time. Natsu will make his appearance soon. This is Lucy x Natsu, don't worry lol. Please review what you guys think so far.


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 2**

Lucy sat in the train with her diary in front of her. Sagittarius drove her all the way to the station,

helped with her bags and then left. Now she was truly alone and only had herself to depend on. She started writing in her diary, to pass time on the train.

 _Dear Mama,_

 _This is it. I start a new life for the next four years. I want to have this last chance of freedom, before I must take over the company. I will not break my promise and I will learn to love the company as much as you did. I promise to make both you and Papa proud._

 _Love, Lucy_

"Next stop is Magnolia, 5 minutes till the stop. Please collect all your belongings." said the automated voice of the train.

Lucy clasped her diary and put in her bag. She headed towards the luggage compartment of the train and collected her duffel bag and large suitcase. She then headed towards the train doors. After the train came to the complete stop, she carefully got herself out the train.

Outside the train station, many cars and taxis whizzed by. This was her first test, she had heard how difficult it was to hail a taxi. Raising her hand, she held out to the side, a taxi came right to her in a split of a second. Unbeknownst to her, everyone noticed her beauty and wanted to be the one to help her. "Hey there girlie, where are you headed towards?" the driver asked.

"Magnolia University." Lucy replied, taking her bags to the rear end of the car.

The driver sprinted out of the car to help put her bags in the trunk. "Magnolia University is 15 minutes from here, I can take you there in eight minutes if you would like."

Lucy, not wanting the driver to break any road rules, said "That's all right, 15 minutes is good." She stared out the window to check out the impressive city. There were many buildings and people hustling around. Soon she could start to see the University, it was pretty huge and looked like a castle.

Once they got to the front of the school, the driver helped get her bags out of the trunk and she paid him for the ride. He gave her his card and said he would be willing to help her anytime.

Lucy looked around and saw tables with many people around it. She walked up towards the area and a white hair girl approached her. "Hi, I'm Mirajane. Welcome to Magnolia University. Are you here for orientation?"

Lucy was stunned, Mirajane was so pretty like a model, she couldn't help but stare. "Uh, hi, yes I am here for orientation."

"Okay, over there at the blue table you will get your packet which contains information about your dorm room and your orientation details."

Lucy saw the blue table and started to walk towards there, not before telling Mirarjane "Thank you."

"Ashley, Lucy Ashley." Lucy told the person at the blue table. It was weird having another last name. She took her packet and tried to find her dorm building. As she looked around, she saw many students with their families who came to drop them off. Obviously she knew that her father could not be here, especially because he was a well-known figure in the business world. But looking at the parents who came to drop their kids, she felt a slight pang in her heart, wishing her dad could have been here.

She found her building, which was a co-ed dorm. So boys had floors 2, 4, 6, while girls were on floors 3, 5 and 7. The first floor had laundry and a lounge. Her room was on the seventh floor. Coming out of the elevator, she took out her room key, which was in the packet, and opened her door for room 707.

She first saw a petite girl with blue hair, who smiled when she saw her. "Hi, you must be my roommate. I'm Levy McGarden."

"Hi, Levy. I'm Lucy Ashley." She looked around the room and saw two of everything. Two beds, dressers, desks and chairs. The left side of the room look occupied.

"I hope you don't mind, I took the left side of the room." Levy said sheepishly.

"That's all right with me." Lucy smiled and set her bags on the bed. She turned to Levy and asked her what she was majoring in.

"I'm a Linguistic* major. What about you?"

"I'm majoring in Business, but I will be also minoring in writing."

"That's sounds interesting. I love reading, if you write anything, I want to be the first to read it. Do you want to go to the cafeteria to eat dinner, after orientation?"

Lucy excited to have new friend, nodded enthusiastically. Their orientation was in 2 hours, so she spent her time unpacking, talking to Levy, and changing her clothes. She wore black jeans, a grey long sleeve top with shoulder cut outs, and a simple thin black head band.

During orientation, she learned where her classes, the library, the cafeteria and other important buildings would be. After, she found Levy and they headed to the café, to grab dinner and eat on the lawn. She noticed that people kept looking at her and giving weird looks, worried about her actual identity being exposed, she asked Levy why people were looking at her.

Levy scoffed, "Lucy are you blind? Everyone is looking this way, because you are _hot_."

Lucy blushed and turned red, "I'm sure that's not the reason." She looked and saw some boys staring and she blushed even harder. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, they headed back to the dorms.

Laying in her bed, she was trembling with anticipation. Her first day of classes started tomorrow.

 _Next Morning_

After grabbing some fruit from the café, she headed to her first class, Intro to Business. She was five minutes early and found a spot in the second row. A minute before class started, she felt a presence rush in next to her. Looking to her left, she saw a boy with wild pink hair. He must have been running late to class she thought. He noticed her looking at him and gave her a feral grin "Hiya, I'm Natsu."

* * *

 _*Linguistics is the study of languages. In the manga, Levy spends a lot of time translating runes and languages, so I made this her major._

AN: Natsu made his appearance! Guess who the professor of the "Intro to Business" class is? Also I probably will be updating a new chapter almost every day. (I have summer holidays lol).


	3. Chapter 3

I was going to publish this chapter tomorrow, but I got impatient. lol. Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows.

 _I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 3**

Natsu Dragneel was running late for his first class. It was that stupid ice prick of a roommate fault. Luckily he knew where the class room was and started running in that direction. When he got there, he saw that he had about a minute before the class started. Locating a seat, next to a blonde girl, he rushed to grab the spot. Feeling the girl's gaze he turned around and introduced himself. "Hiya, I'm Natsu."

Lucy smiled and shook his hand "I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."

Suddenly a large boom interrupted their meeting. Looking down, she saw a tall, handsome man, walking away from a closed door. "Hello, class. As you can see, I have closed the door, those who are late are not welcomed to the class. Like in business, it is important to be on time, whether it is a meeting or presentation. I am Professor Bora."

Lucy barely listened as Professor Bora prattled on about his numerous accomplishments and education, as a way of introducing himself to the class. Since it was the first day, he passed around the syllabus*. When he got to Lucy, he winked at her, she gave him a blank look in return. When she looked around, it seems that all the girls in the class were fawning over the professor. Lucy looked at Natsu and he was turning the syllabus paper into an airplane. She shook her head in laughter.

When the class was over, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Lucy, maybe we can study together sometime." He just knew that he had to be friends with this girl, he could feel that there was something special about her.

"Sure Natsu." Lucy smiled, she had to get to her next class, so she waved good bye and headed off.

First week of college, went by like a blur. She had made many friends with classmates and she and Natsu actually had another class together. He and her only talked in class before Professor Bora interrupts them. Lucy liked that Natsu always ready for any challenge that comes his way. For the next week Lucy had two goals: find a job and join a club.

On Sunday she decided to walk down the streets of Magnolia and visit all the shops with a "need help" sign on it. Maybe she might find a job that she would like, however it was unrealistic to find a job in one day and she knew that. After, a few failed attempts are many random stores, Lucy decided that she needed a break. Seeing a small bookstore at the end of street, her mood perked up. She loves reading books and she enjoys writing as well.

Reaching the bookstore, "Magnolia Books", she saw that it was quite old looking. When she pushed the door open, a little bell on the top dinged. An old shop keeper came out, he smiled with his wrinkled face. "How may I help you young lady?"

"May I just look around, sir?" Lucy felt drawn to the store, its old bookshelves, with the candles lits around, gave a magical feeling. There was a reading area with chairs, pillows, and bean bags. She found a book Dear Kaby by Zekua Melon. Finding a comfy chair, she sat and began to read the book.

She had read all the books by Zekua Melon, except for this one, so she was excited to read it. She found herself engrossed in the book and unaware of the time. Startled by a hand on her shoulder, she looked back and saw the bookstore owner kindly smile. "My dear, it is getting quite late and dark." Lucy looked outside and saw that the sun had already set.

"Oh, I must have lost track of the time. How much is this book?" Lucy enquired.

The owner grinned, "That is a very special book, there is only few copies of it, but for you I will give it for free."

Lucy gasped, he was giving her a rare book for free. "No, no, sir please let me pay for it."

"Nonsense, it was a delight having someone who still enjoys paper books, in these days of technology."

Lucy thanked the old man many times and started to head out of the store. Before she reached the door, a sudden question came to mind and it couldn't hurt to ask.

Five minutes later Lucy walked away very satisfied. She had asked the store owner, Rob, if he by any chance was hiring. He told her that he was thinking about hiring in general, but he could not afford to pay an employee much. As Lucy had her expenses paid by her father for her dorm and tuition, she did not need money desperately at the moment. By working at the bookstore, even with minimal wages, she would save up a lot of money. He told her that he would give her an answer in a few days.

As Lucy walked towards the school campus, the roads started to get even more empty. She was on high alert now, she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Before she could do anything, a hand grabbed hers.

A drunk man with dilated eyes lecherously asked "Hey girlie, where are you going?" He pulled her towards him.

Lucy, trying to get her hand out of the man's grip, replied "Please let go of me." She started freaking out, there was no one else around.

The man slurred, "Hey, c'mon I promise to show you a good time." He started to use his other hand and reached for her butt. Before he could grope it, Lucy kicked him in the shin. Using that distraction she pried her hand out of his and started running towards the dorms. She didn't even check if he was following her, she could not take any chances and the only thing on her mind was getting to her building.

In the dark, she didn't notice that another figure was in front of her. She bumped into him and almost started to fall back, due to her shock. Two hands grabbed her and brought her up right.

"Lucy? Is that you?" She recognized the voice and looked up. It was Natsu looking concerned at her.

"Oh Natsu, thank god it's you." She sighed in relief and started to relax a little bit.

Natsu studied her, "Are you alright Lucy?" he asked worried.

Lucy smiled shakily, "I'm alright now." Realizing that she still had a long way to her dorm, she asked "Natsu, may I ask you a favor?" Seeing him nod, she continued "Will accompany me to my dorm building?"

"Sure Lucy, I'm heading towards the dorms now anyway. Which building do you live in?" Natsu and Lucy started to head in the direction.

"I am in the Sakura dorms. What about you?"

"No way, me too! I'm on the sixth floor, room 607."

"What a coincidence, I'm on the floor above you, room 707.

Natsu and Lucy laughed and talked on the way to the dorms. Lucy learned that he had an older brother and that he was also Business major. She also learned that he had an unusual amount of interest in pyrotechnics and talked about the time he set off a firework in high school. He told her about his new roomate Gray and how he strips in their room all the time. Lucy told him a little about her life, without revealing any details that could compromise her true identity.

When they got to the dorms, they entered the elevator together. Natsu, got off the at the sixth floor and wished Lucy good night. When Lucy reached her floor, she saw Levy frantically pacing in front of their door. As soon as Levy saw her, she cried out in relief "Thank god, you are okay! I was getting worried because it was so late and you haven't returned." Levy hugged Lucy tightly.

Lucy touched by her friend's thoughtfulness, replied "I'm fine Levy, I had a friend walk me back to the dorm." She left out the part about the drunk pervert, not wanting to worry her anymore. After reassuring Levy that she was fine, she headed to the showers. Once the waters hit her skin, the tears poured out of her eyes. She was so lucky that she was able to escape today, what if something had happened tonight? Thankful for the self-defense lessons that she received from Sagittarius, she never hoped to use them, but they helped her today in her time of need.

Dressed in her pajamas and fully de-stressed from her shower, she went back to her room. While getting ready for bed, she heard Levy gasp really loudly. "Levy, what is it?" Lucy asked concerned. Levy didn't say anything and just pointed to the window. She looked and what she saw was the last thing she expected.

It was Natsu's head and he waved hello. Lucy rushed to the window and opened it. "Natsu, what the hell are you doing? This is extremely dangerous!" she scolded. He climbed in and she looked down from the window and gulped. It was really high up, slapping Natsu on the arm "You could have gotten seriously hurt. What were you thinking?"

"You told me that you were in room 707, so I thought it was directly above my room, so I wanted to test it out." Natsu bluntly said without any shame. He turned towards Levy and introduced himself, "Hi I'm Natsu. I live in room 607 beneath you." Levy weakly smiled back at him still in shock. He sniffed and headed towards Lucy's snack stash.

"Natsu, climbing walls is dangerous, don't do it again. Anyways, you are not allowed here. No boys are allowed in the girl's rooms during the night." Lucy chastised. Natsu simply shrugged and continued eating Lucy's chips.

"Okay, I'm just going to let you guys chat. I'm going to shower now, bye." Levy said and ran out the room. She was completely freaked out at first, but she now she could see that Lucy and Natsu were friends and she wanted to give them some privacy.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" Lucy sighed, it was getting late and she just wanted to sleep.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright, you seemed like something was bothering you during our walk earlier." Natsu calmly said.

Lucy was touched by his concern and sweetness "I'm alright, there is nothing wrong with me."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Lucy, I can tell you are lying." He crossed his arms "I'm not leaving until you tell me the truth."

She pinched her nose, she didn't want to talk about what happened. However she had a feeling that she could trust Natsu, no matter what. "You promise that you will leave if I tell you?" Natsu nodded. "Before I ran into you tonight, I was being harassed by a pervert. I guess I was still shaken up, after it happened."

"Did he touch you?" Natsu suddenly became furious. He scanned her body "Did he hurt you?"

"No, luckily nothing happened and I was able to escape." Lucy said honestly.

He walked towards her desk and found a piece of paper and pen. He started scribbling on it and handed the paper towards her. "Anytime you find yourself alone, you can call me and I will personally escort you." She looked down and saw a phone number messily written.

"Why would you do that for me?" she suspiciously asked.

Natsu smiled "Because you are my friend." he simply answered. Then he said "Alright, good night Lucy. See you in Bora's class tomorrow." He opened the window and climbed out.

"Wait, don't climb down the wall! Use the elevator!" Lucy warned.

"Nah, I don't want to be caught." Natsu said and started climbing down a plumbing pole. She watched him until he entered his window, silently praying that nothing would happen to him.

She closed her window and moved towards her bed. She thought about the events that happened during the day. She started off looking for jobs, she found a bookstore, got a rare book for free, ran into a pervert, and Natsu climbed the wall for her. She was suddenly exhausted thinking about the events of the day and started to fall asleep.

* * *

 _*Syllabus: A paper that some professors give to students. It outlines the topics covered in class and has important dates on it._

AN: Ha Ha! Bora is the professor! I'm not making him a fraud like in the manga, but he will cause trouble for Lucy later. The bookstore owner Rob, is based off the man that Erza met in the tower of heaven as a kid. He used to be in the Fairy Tail guild and friends with Makarov.

I'm from America, so I am writing about university life similar to what people experience here. If there are any terms or concepts unfamiliar to you, let me know and I will try to explain to you. Also Lucy and Natsu will start by being friends first, then romance comes much later. This story is more about Lucy growing and learning from her experiences. Don't worry, I plan on having many more cute Natsu and Lucy moments.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites.

 _I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the character._

 **Chapter 4**

Lucy was ecstatic, Rob had called her back to tell her that she had gotten the job. The pay wasn't much, but she was able to work in place that she liked filled with a bunch of books. She had now found a job, but now all she needed was to find a club that she could join. She wanted to make more friends and joining a club is one of the best ways to do so.

In a few days, the University was holding a club's day, to inform students about the different types of clubs. Lucy and Levy decided to check it out it together and hopefully they will find clubs that they want to participate in.

On clubs day, the main field was filled with tables and booths. There were many different types of clubs: sports, special interests, and academic. Ultimately Lucy decided that she wanted to join was a volunteering one. When she walked towards the volunteering section she was approached by some flirty guys asking her to join Blue Pegasus, she politely declined. She saw an interesting club called Lamia Scale, but some of the club members were a little weird.

At the end of the section she saw Mirajane from her first day and walked towards her. Mirajane was standing in front of booth for the Fairy Tail club. She explained to Lucy and Levy what the club was about and they signed up immediately. The club had a family dynamic and that's what Lucy wanted. The first meeting was in a few days. Levy and Lucy spent some more time exploring other clubs and Levy decided to also join a book club.

 _At the Fairy Tail club meeting_

The meeting was held in a bar/restaurant near the college. Levy and Lucy walked together filled with anticipation. Levy's childhood friends Jey and Droy joined them as well. When Lucy opened the door, she was greeted with a half-naked boy, she screamed and slammed the door closed. Taking a few deep breathes she opened the door again and luckily the boy disappeared. Instead she heard a familiar yelling.

"Hey ice dick, come back and fight me!" Lucy saw Natsu yelling.

"Oh really flame brain? You won't be able to beat me?" said the almost naked boy from earlier.

The two boys started getting into a fighting stance, Lucy felt that she should interfere at this point. "Hey Natsu!" she smiled.

Natsu whipped his head around and smiled when he saw Lucy. Forgetting all about the other boy he walked towards. "Hey Lucy, what are you doing here?"

"I'm joining Fairy Tail with Levy." Lucy pointed to her roommate sitting with Jet and Droy near the bar.

"Hey Levy." Natsu waved. Levy waved back from her spot. "This is so cool. I'm joining Fairy Tail as well."

"Hey fire breath, you got scared of a fight?" the now naked man walked towards them. Lucy avoided looking down and stared right at his face. He was quite handsome Lucy thought.

"No way, popsicle." Natsu glared at him. "I just thought talking to my friend is better than wasting my time on you." Natsu turned to Lucy "This is my roommate, Gray. Freeze brain, this is Lucy."

"Hello Gray… um do you mind putting on some clothes." Lucy asked, her eyes almost looking down.

"Aw shit! When did that happen? Can I borrow some underwear?" Gray asked Lucy.

Natsu punched him "Get your own." Leaving him unconscious on the ground he informed Lucy "He is actually worse in the room, he strips almost all the time, since he isn't in public."

Lucy was about to ask Natsu another question, but she got interrupted by a loud voice.

"ALRIGHT BRATS LISTEN UP!" announced a short man. "I'm Makarov and I'm the manager/advisor of the club. Regardless what reputation our club has, the most important thing is to be yourself and have fun. Show the rest of the University what it means to be a Fairy Tail member!" Everyone cheered and clapped. "Your president will tell you more information." Makarov left and went to the bar.

A buff blonde boy rose up and walked to the center of the room. "Alright so I'm Laxus the president. Basically we always have volunteering jobs available, you just choose the one you like and get it approved by the vice president Mirajane." He pointed to the white haired goddess near the bar. She smiled and waved to everyone; couple of boys drooled. "Since we are a volunteering club, we do not accept payment from the job requestor. You may do your jobs in teams of 4 or less. Any questions direct them to Mirajne." Laxus left abruptly leaving the room in an awkward silence.

Mirajane chuckled and pointed to the wall filled with flyers. "This is the request wall filled with a bunch of jobs. While you don't get money for the jobs, you get points. Members with the highest points at the end of each semesters gets prizes." There was a sudden air of excitement. Who doesn't like prizes? "You may get started today if you like." The room slowly started to fill with chatter.

Natsu turned to Lucy, "Let's become a team." he said animatedly. Lucy looked at Levy who seemed to have form a team with Jet and Droy.

"Sure. I would love to be on a team with you." Lucy herself was excited, she couldn't wait to get started.

"I'm all fired up! Let's go to the job board, we need to get the best one!" Natsu dragged her toward the wall.

Lucy and Natsu stared at the wall looking at all the jobs. There were a huge variety of requests, some were weird and some were easy. "What about this one?" Natsu handed a paper to her. She read over the paper, it was about a kid's birthday party that wanted entertainment.

She nodded and then stopped "I don't have any skills to perform, do you?"

"I can do some magic tricks, but you could be my assistant?" he wiggled his eyebrows in amusement.

She thought about it and said yes; the mission could be fun and she liked little kids. They both took the paper to Mirajane and got it approved. The mission was for the next day, so they decided to meet in the morning and they would walk to the birthday party.

 _Next Morning_

Lucy wore simple jean shorts and a red top, nothing too revealing as she was hanging around children today. She met Natsu at the bottom of the dorm building. He had a bag overfilling with random things.

"Looks like you are prepared for the magic show." Lucy giggled.

"Yep, I can't wait to show off my tricks. It's been so long since I did them."

They reached a small house with balloons near the fence. "This must be the house." Lucy said. She ranged the bell and a few moments later a disheveled man opened the door. He had a confused look on his face looking at the two strangers

"Hi, we are from Fairy Tail." Lucy started to explain.

The man light up "Thank god!" He pulled them both in the house. "The party starts in an hour and I am way over my head." He lead them to the garden where there was a picnic table with plates and birthday celebration. "My name is Macao Conbolt, it's my son's seventh birthday party."

Natsu and Lucy nodded evaluating the space of the garden. "I just need you guys to provide entertainment for an hour. Anything is fine, the kids get excited easily, just make sure what you guys do is appropriate for kids. Any questions?"

Lucy asked, "Do you by any chance have a piano or keyboard?" Thinking about it last night, she realized that she could perform music on the piano for Natsu's magic show. She had many years of lessons from her music teacher Lyra.

Macao nodded, "Yeah I have a keyboard in the garage, unfortunately I can't help you take it out, I need to finish setting things up." He left them in the garden and headed back inside the house.

Lucy walked to the garage, with Natsu trailing behind her. "You play the piano?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah I thought I would be a rubbish assistant, so I decided to add music to the show." Natsu silently agreed, he would be able to perform better working alone.

They found the keyboard in the garage and carried it out to the garden. Natsu set up a little magic station for his show. They met the birthday boy, Romeo, and talked with him. As more kids started coming in, Lucy and Natsu had to answer a bunch of questions, because of their curious little minds.

When it was time for the show to begin, Lucy sat in front of the keyboard and started playing a joyful medley. Natsu began with the typical magician tricks, like pulling a bird out of a hat and making two rings conjoin together. Natsu had a way with keeping the kids entranced with the show. When he signaled Lucy that he was starting to get to the climax of the show, she started playing rapidly and more loudly. Lucy watched shocked as he dipped his hands in a liquid substance and started to light his hand on fire. The fire didn't burn him at all and he started doing a few tricks with the ball of fire in his hand. When he blew the fire out, he took a bow, which ended the show. The children and parents in the garden started clapping wildly, he signaled Lucy to join him, and they both bowed down together.

They started to pack up and leave, but Macao insisted that they stay for some cake and pizza. Natsu, who was a glutton, couldn't refuse free food. While they were eating cake, Lucy asked, "How long have you been doing magic and where did you learn the fire trick?"

"My foster dad, he taught me so many cool tricks and skills. I miss him very much." Natsu said solemnly with a melancholy smile on his face.

Lucy knowing that it was a painful subject, didn't question him anymore. Macao come over and thanked them many times. Romeo and his friends gave Lucy and Natsu many hugs. They headed back to the dorms after the party and emailed Mirajane about the completion of the mission.

"Natsu, I had a lot of fun on this job with you." Lucy honestly said.

"Me too. We make a great team." Natsu said grinning wildly. They both said bye to each other and headed to their rooms.

For the next few weeks in school, Lucy fell into a routine. Every week she would go to her classes, work few days, take one job at Fairy Tail with Natsu. Another surprising addition to her week was that Natsu climbed to up to her room every Sunday, no matter how much she protested, Natsu claimed that it was now tradition to climb every Sunday. After a busy week, Lucy found that she looked forward to meeting Natsu every Sunday night. Levy made that her shower time, to give them some privacy, she secretly shipped them together.

 _End of October_

As much as Lucy is enjoying her time in college, she felt like she needed a break from all the studying, working, and volunteering. One day, during one of the Fairy Tail club meeting, her friend Cana invited her to a Halloween Party.

"There is going to be booze, food, booze, boys, slutty costumes, and booze." Cana drunkenly slurred.

Lucy was enthusiastic, she never been to a party like this before and only heard of them. "Can I invite Levy?" she asked.

"The more the merrier, however, you will be denied at the door if you show up looking like a prude." Cana said leeringly. "It will be a good time for you to show off the ladies." Cana came behind her and groped both of Lucy's breasts. Lucy squeaked and slapped Cana's hands away. "The party is at my old man's house, he is away for the month." Cana added.

When Lucy went back to the dorm, she informed Levy about the party, and she agreed that she wanted to come as well. They spent the rest of the week planning outfits as the party was on Friday.

On Friday, Lucy spent time taking a long shower (there were no bath tubs in the dorm bathroom unfortunately). She curled her hair, wore a white dress that showed off bunch of cleavage and the dress it stopped at her knees. Paired with sandals and a thin gold belt. To complete the outfit she added a leaf wreath on her head. She was going as a Greek goddess and put even more make up than usual. Levy was going as a sexy librarian with an extremely short skirt.

When they got to the house, they could hear the music from the inside. They rang the bell and Cana opened the door and looked approvingly over Lucy and Levy's outfits. "Welcome the party! Drinks are on the table, my advice is to make your own drinks." The girls entered feeling tingly, Lucy wondered what this party would be like.

In the house there were people drinking in the kitchen, dancing in the living room, making out on the stairs, and playing drinking games. Lucy wanting to loosen up headed to the kitchen, to get a drink. Her dad had taught her how to manage her alcohol intake, because it business it was customary to drink with the associates.

Created a drink for her and Levy, she downed it in one shot. She made another one and went to see the drinking games. While she was watching, she felt herself becoming slightly drunk, so she knew to stop drinking. Feeling someone tap her shoulder, she saw that it was Hibiki, one of the popular guys on campus. Looking straight at her, he sultry asked, "You wanna dance?" She nodded, she thought Hibiki was a nice guy and is quite handsome.

They moved closer to the music and he held her dangerous close to him. Swaying to the music, his hand moved further south and cupped her ass. She gasped slightly and he took that moment to bring his lips to her. Taking the lead, he ferociously kissed her, Lucy followed enjoying the sensation and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. When she felt his hands move towards her breasts, she stepped back, she was not comfortable with him doing that. Hibiki, who would never force himself on a woman, apologized to her. She said she was fine and left to get some water.

Drinking from a new water bottle, she headed back to the area where the drinking games was set up. Not being surprised, she saw Natsu and Gray competing at a game of beer pong, she chuckled and observed them from afar. Natsu was wearing a tight white shirt with lose khakis and a fire man hat with his typical white scarf and Gray, well he was wearing a pair of boxers. After seeing them start to get rowdy with each other, she went over and said hi.

Natsu heard Lucy's sweet voice and turned around, his jaw dropped, she looked like a greek angel. With her flushed checks and her big brown eyes, he thought she looked beautiful.

"Um, Natsu. Is there something wrong with my face?" Lucy asked, while touching her face.

"No, no." Natsu stumbled, "You look great." Lucy beamed in happiness and thanked him.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Levy being dragged upstairs by a random guy, while she was obviously drunk. Not wanting anything to happen to her friend while she under the influence, rushed towards the stairs, leaving Natsu and Gray behind. She grabbed Levy's hand and pulled her. The other guy who had a tight grip on Levy's other hand, felt Lucy pulling her.

The stranger with a dark gleam asked, "What's the matter? You want to join? Let's make it a threesome."

"No." Lucy spat. "This is my friend and I think it is time for her to leave." She tried pulling Levy, who could barely stand up, towards her. The other guy who was now angry, used his other hand to push Lucy, who was standing on the first step of the stairs, down. She fell back hard on her butt and then she saw two pairs of legs, run past her. Looking up, she saw Gray holding Levy up and Natsu pinning the stranger to the wall.

Natsu growled, "How dare you hurt my friends?" The other guy, not wanting to fight, mumbled a quick "sorry" and escaped up the stairs. Natsu saw Lucy who was still on the ground in shock and came down the stairs to help her up.

"Thank you, Natsu." Lucy gratefully said, "and you too, Gray." He nodded to her. Going towards Gray, she took Levy and wrapped the petite girl's hand around her shoulder. Turning towards Natsu she said, "I think it is time for us to head back. Thank you for your help." She started to walk with Levy towards the door.

She saw that Natsu and Gray following her. "What are you guys doing? Go enjoy the party."

"Don't be stupid Lucy, we want to make sure that you both get back safely." Natsu said with Gray nodding in agreement. Luckily he was wearing clothes now. "Besides, that party was boring anyways."

Lucy smiled at the two of them, thankful for all the friends she had. The four of them walked towards the University dorms. It was a ten minute walk and Lucy was struggling to hold Levy up. Gray offered to help and took Levy on his back. Lucy suddenly felt cold, without Levy's body heat near her. She rubbed her arms while she slightly shivered. Natsu noticed and gave her his jacket, that he was not wearing.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Nah. I have naturally high body temperatures." Natsu boasted puffing his chest out. Lucy giggled uncontrollably as she was slightly drunk.

When they reached the dorms and entered the elevator, Lucy said goodnight as they stopped at the sixth floor. Once, she got to the seventh floor, she took Levy to the bathroom and helped her throw up and washed her face. She dropped Levy on her bed and tucked her in. Lucy finally got herself ready for bed, taking her make-up off and changing into pajamas. Overall she had a good time and the alcohol finally made her forget about her busy life.

* * *

AN: Lol. Ren, Hibiki, and Eve make a minor appearance (the flirty guys who asked Lucy to join Blue Pegasus and Hibiki making out with Lucy). I plan on wrapping up the first semester, in the next two chapters. Also this is a rated T fan fic, so no lemons, but there is some mature content. Btw, it will take a long time for Natsu and Lucy to realize their feelings for each other, so get ready for that.


	5. Chapter 5

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 5**

Lucy was in her Creative Writing class, when the professor handed back their latest assignment. The class had to write a short story about anything. Lucy was nervous, she had always hoped to be an author someday, (if she could find time while managing the company, to write a book). What she handed in for the class was her best work, so she was hoping the professor would like it.

Looking at the paper she got back, she felt disappointment coursing through her veins. While she had gotten a good grade, it was the professor's comments that stung her.

 _"_ _While this is well-written, the story itself lacks substance. The story needs to be more interesting so the reader won't stop reading. It is missing something and feels incomplete."_

Feeling devastated and rejected, she headed to the lake to bring up her spirits. As she sat on the park bench, tears starting rolling down her checks. She thought to herself, "It's alright, every author hits a phase where their books and stories don't appeal to others. Don't give up." Maybe she could write something else in her spare time. Looking through her bag for a tissue, she suddenly saw a handkerchief trusted in front of her face.

Looking up, she saw a handsome man with blue hair and a tattoo over his right eye. Taking the handkerchief, she whispered, "Thank you." The man nodded and started to walk away. She tried calling him back, but he wouldn't turn around. "That was weird, but sweet of him." Lucy thought. She wiped away her tears and left the lake, feeling much better about her writing.

 _Few days later at Fairy Tail_

Lucy and Natsu stood in front of the request board for a long time searching for a job. "Why are all the jobs so boring?" Natsu complained. Lucy agreed with him, but she would not minded doing a boring job, but she knew Natsu enjoyed fun jobs more.

Mirajane walked over to them, "I have a special job. If you guys want to take it?"

Lucy enquired, "What kind of job is it?

Mirajane sparkled, "It is a mission to help two people fall in love!" Her eyes twinkled and while she looked happy, Lucy thought she saw a dark gleam behind her eyes.

Natsu blanched, "Love? That's lame." He shut up once he saw Mirajane giving him a demon face.

Lucy who was a fan of fairy tale endings said, "We will do it. Who is it for?"

Mirajane clapped her hands together in excitement, "Perfect! It's for Erza and her childhood friend Jellal. They used to like each other, but they were separated. It's been years and they are both two scared to meet up with each other." She explained dramatically. She handed Lucy a paper, this is the location where Jellal will be on Saturday. You guys need to convince him to meet up with Erza."

Lucy looked at the paper, "A nightclub?"

"Oh yeah, Jellal is involved with drug dealing, but don't worry, he doesn't actually do the dealing. He is a middle man who makes sure that the transactions go smoothly."

Natsu piped, "A drug dealer, that's awesome! This mission might be interesting after all! We will do it Mira!"

Lucy paled. "What was she getting herself into?" she thought.

After Mirajane left, Natsu exclaimed, "I'm all fired up! Let's go to that club!" he pulled Lucy's hand. She resisted and Natsu looked at her confused.

"Natsu, Jellal will be at the nightclub on Saturday, today is Thursday." she explained. "Besides we need to plan this out, Erza won't be easy to convince knowing her." Lucy shuddered seeing the red head's stubbornness in person. While Erza was a nice person, she was fierce and knew martial arts. That is why she took on the more dangerous jobs, which required her fighting skills.

The pink head thought for a while and offered, "Maybe we don't tell her the truth." Lucy looked at him confused. "We will have a hard time convincing her. You should invite her to dinner and you guys can spend Sunday afternoon doing all that girly shit. Once you guys get to the restaurant, you ditch her and Jellal comes to the table instead."

She stared at him for a while thinking about what he just suggested. "That's actually a pretty good plan. Are you really Natsu?" she looked at him closely.

Offended at her insinuation, he defended, "Hey! I have good ideas sometimes." She giggled and told him that she was just kidding.

Lucy thinking about Jellal, suggested, "Okay since the nightclub opens at eight, let's meet up at seven." He nodded and she remembered, "Wear some nice clothes, don't come like this." She gestured to his current outfit. Natsu, once again offended was about to retort, but Lucy saw Erza entering the room and left him behind.

Erza was a beautiful women who was loyal and fierce. Lucy admired her, but she never got the chance to talk to Erza. Mustering up her confidence, she marched up to Erza and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Lucy."

Erza who was suspicious at first, but then saw Lucy's friendly smile, awkwardly said, "Oh Hello, I'm Erza. You are in a team with that pink hair boy right?"

Lucy beamed, "Yup, that's my partner, Natsu. Anyways, I want to be friends with you, maybe we could hang out sometimes?"

The red head blushed, she didn't have many friends, because she tends to scare everyone away. She was determined not to mess up this new chance to be friends with Lucy. She nervously said, "I want to be friends, tell me what I must do to earn your friendship."

Lucy smiled, "Let's go to dinner on Sunday. We can get ready together in my dorm, if you want?"

Erza thought, "Dinner and a chance to play dress up?!" She announced, "Yes Lucy, I will be there on time." She had to go to her job soon, so she thanked Lucy and left.

"Okay, so thankfully that worked, but we are nowhere close to being done with the job." Lucy thought.

 _Saturday Evening_

Lucy stood outside the Sakura dorm, waiting for Natsu. She was wearing a tight, long sleeve, thigh length, red dress. From the front she was completely covered, but the back had a deep triangle cut that stopped at her mid back. She also wore black strappy heels and pulled all her hair into a high ponytail, leaving the bangs in the front.

She saw Natsu approaching her and was glad that he decided to dress up. He was wearing a white tight shirt, with black jeans, and a fashionable black coat. Of course, he was also wearing his white scarf. Lucy learned recently that it was his most prized possession, because his foster dad gave it to him before he disappeared.

They got into a taxi and went to the outskirts of Magnolia, because the nightclub was there. It was easier to deal drugs at the city borders, Natsu explained to her. Natsu knew so much about drug dealing and the Magnolia gangs, that Lucy wasn't sure if she wanted to know how Natsu gets his information.

The taxi stopped in front of the Akane Club entrance and they both got out. Lucy was intrigued, she never been inside a nightclub before, but she assumed it was a dimly lit place. The paper Mirajane gave them had two VIP tickets, so they got to skip the long line and go directly into the club. All they knew from Mirajane, was that Jellal had dark blue hair with a tattoo near his right eye. Lucy thought that description was familiar, but could not remember how.

The scoured the club for blue hair men and surprisingly they found quite a few, but none had the tattoo on their face. Meanwhile, Lucy was mainly concerned about not getting groped by random strangers. Finally they came to an area with a corner booth, they saw a blue hair man surrounded by many women. As the got closer, they saw a tattoo on his right forehead. Glancing at each other, they thought they found Jellal. However as they got closer, they realized it was Professor Bora!

Before Professor Bora turned his head, Natsu and Lucy ran away in shock. What they didn't realize was that Professor Bora saw them and recognized them because of Natsu's unique pink hair. Seeing Lucy in that red dress, he was surprised to see his student in such a sexy attire and felt a strong attraction to her. He definitely was going to keep an eye on her from now on.

Lucy and Natsu stopped at the bar, still processing what they saw.

"Was that really Professor Bora?" Natsu asked with wide eyes. Normally in class the Professor wore his hair a different way, covering his forehead. However tonight he spiked it up, revealing the tattoo near his right eyebrow.

"That was definitely Professor Bora. Oh my god, what if Jellal is like a code name he uses for his drug dealing activities and this is the guy we are looking for? He is so much older than Erza, he can't possibly be her childhood friend... right?" Lucy freaked out.

What they didn't realize, that during their conversation the bar tender overheard the name "Jellal". He discreetly looked at a couple of goons and pointed towards Natsu and Lucy. In a few moments, without any warning the two goons grabbed the pair and they felt blindfolded. The goons were so muscled, that they didn't have fighting chance against them.

When Lucy felt the blindfold taken off, she blinked several times trying to take in her new surroundings. She saw that Natsu was next to her, but he was staring in front of them. Looking forward she saw blue haired man, with a tattoo covering most of his right side of the face, wearing a hood. He looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she saw him.

"Are you Jellal? You must be him, you have the tattoo." Natsu said. Sighing in relief "Thank god it's you and not Professor Bora." They saw Jellal lift an eyebrow in amusement.

"Natsu, we are tied up and that's all you can think about?" hissed Lucy.

"Well yeah. We have a mission to find Jellal and set him up with Erza!" countered Natsu.

"Don't give away the plan Natsu!" shushed Lucy.

Jellal paled at the mention of Erza and sent the goons in the room away. He came towards Lucy and reached for her hands.

"Hey don't touch her!" yelled Natsu. Jellal ignored him and loosened the ropes around Lucy's wrists, freeing her. He moved towards Natsu and did the same for him.

"I can assume that you guys aren't here for drug related business?" Jellal asked. Lucy shook her head strongly. "Alright, but you guys better tell me the truth about why you are looking for me." Jellal threatened.

Lucy took a deep breathe and began to narrate. "We are from the Fairy Tail club and we were given a job to help you and Erza reconnect. We heard that you guys are childhood friends and lost touch for many years." Lucy told him honestly, "Mirajane wants you guys to become lovers, but I just want two friends to reconnect. I see Erza around and she is always looks like she is missing something. She is lonely and I think she would be happy to see you again."

Jellal, took all the information in slowly and processed. "Thanks for going to the trouble, but I did something to her that is unforgiveable. She is better off without seeing me"

Surprisingly Natsu spoke up, "Isn't that up to her to decide?" He slowly started getting angry, "She is your friend, how could you do that to her. Erza clearly misses you and you are only hurting her more by avoiding her." Lucy stared at him, once again impressed by his words.

Jellal stared at Natsu, "Well aren't you a hypocrite, the other day I saw her crying her eyes out and where were you?" Jellal pointed at Lucy. She stared at him, this was the man that gave her the handkerchief at the lake!

"What?!" Natsu turned around to look at Lucy. She gave him a look saying that she will talk about it later. Natsu reluctantly agreed and looked back at Jellal, "Anyways, Erza will be at this restaurant tomorrow at 5. If you are no longer a coward, come and see her." He threw a paper on the ground, with the restaurant details. Then he grabbed Lucy and headed out of the nightclub. He hailed a taxi and they got in.

"Natsu, are you sure that Jellal will come tomorrow?" Lucy asked worried about Erza and the job.

Natsu sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I'm not sure, but worst case scenario you just end up eating dinner with Erza and no one gets hurt." Lucy nodded, by not telling Erza, they were protecting her feelings. Natsu turned towards, "So you met Jellal before."

"Yeah, I met him by the lake, but I had no idea who he was." Lucy honestly replied.

"Why were you crying?" he asked.

"It was nothing, please don't ask me again. This was about a private issue. As much as I trust you, I would like to keep this to myself." Lucy almost begged. She never told anyone about her dream to publish a book and this was secret she would take to the grave if she had to.

Natsu looked hurt and it pained Lucy to see that expression. "Alright." he said, leaving the topic alone. The rest of the ride back was in an awkward silence.

When they got to the dorms, Lucy said "I will see you tomorrow at the restaurant." Natsu shrugged a yes and left. Lucy was hurt, she would need to do something to make him not mad at her. However, right now Jellal and Erza was her number one priority.

 _Sunday Evening_

Lucy was exhausted, Erza brought over the most flamboyant clothes which were not restaurant appropriate. Levy and her had a hard time convincing Erza to try on some of Lucy's clothes. They finally found something that all three of them liked. Erza wore a dark blue pleated skirt, with a white sleeveless ruffle top. She wore a blue ribbon around the collar of the shirt and knotted it, leaving the tails out.

Thanking Levy for all her help, (truly Lucy was grateful for her roommate), they walked to the restaurant. Lucy enjoyed Erza's company, she was such a wonderful person. Lucy hoped that she could hang out with Erza more often.

Erza was also extremely happy today, it's been so long since she was able to relax. She looked up at the restaurant sign, "Tower of Heaven", the name brought up some bad memories, but she pushed them to the back of her head.

Lucy and Erza were seated at a table, facing each other. Lucy looked around and saw no signs of Natsu or Jellal, she was disappointed internally. When the plate of free bread was place in front of her, she forgot all about the boys and started devouring the bread. She was so hungry and tired, she lost herself in the bread.

Suddenly she felt something hit her head, ignoring it she continued to eat. Feeling the same sensation, she turned around and chocked on her bread. She saw Natsu and Jellal hiding behind a plant. Continuing to choke, she asked for some water. She got up and told Erza that she would go to the restroom.

Walking towards Natsu, she saw Jellal heading to the table. Natsu and her moved to a closer plant to spy on them. Seeing a server coming to kick them out, Lucy handed him some money to keep him quiet.

Jellal sat in the chair, Erza still looking at the menu, "Lucy you are back, we should order…" she trailed off, seeing the man in front of her. Feeling angry, she stood up, but felt him pull her back down.

"Erza please, let me at least talk." She sat back down and looked in another direction, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. Jellal saw that and felt even more guilty, "Erza I'm sorry for abandoning back then, I was in danger and I didn't want you to get hurt. After I came back I was too much of a coward to face you."

"Did our friendship mean nothing to you? Could you not trust me with your secrets?" Erza asked painfully. Lucy who was listening gulped, that must be what Natsu was feeling yesterday, she thought.

"Erza, I'm sorry…" he stopped talking when he saw the server approaching him.

"Can't you see, we are having a conversation!" Erza barked, scaring the server to death. He slowly backed away, terrified of the scarlet haired beauty.

Jellal slowly chuckled and then full out started laughing. Erza flushed red and pouted in embarrassment. The air around them suddenly became lighter.

Natsu took this as a good sign and beckoned Lucy to follow him out of the restaurant. Without saying anything, they both started walking back to the dorms. Lucy tried to apologize for the day before, but she could not find the courage to, instead she asked him, "Why are you in a rush to leave?"

He looked at her seriously and then said "That's a secret." Lucy felt hurt by his words, he was trying to make her feel bad on purpose. Is she not allowed to have any secrets? It's not like she knew everything about him.

Walking passed him, she went to the library just so she could avoid him. After 20 minutes, she finally calmed down and headed back to her dorms. She started to change into pajamas, but was interrupted when she heard a knock. He saw Natsu at the window, she forgot, it was their annual Sunday tradition for him to climb up to her room.

Opening the window she asked him, "What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me?"

Sighing, Natsu said, "Look, I over reacted. You can have your secrets, I have my own. I don't know why I got so mad. But I would never break our Sunday tradition over that. I brought some food, since I didn't get to eat dinner. Although I'm not sure if you are hungry, considering you ate all that bread before." he teased.

"Shut up!" Lucy giggled at grabbed a burger. They talked about Jellal and Erza and hoped she wouldn't be mad at them for tricking her. Before Natsu left, Lucy gave him a big hug and she apologized as well. She wouldn't want to lose his friendship as well. Lucy went to bed with a huge smile on her face.

* * *

AN: I called the nightclub, Akane, that's the resort that they were in at the beginning of the Tower of Heaven Arc. They thought that Professor Bora was Jellal for a moment haha! This is probably the most of Jellal and Erza in this story. Juvia and Gajeel will be appear in the story, but not until Lucy's second year I think. Please review, what you guys think of this chapter.

Also for those of you who can't imagine what Erza was wearing to the restaurant, (because of my poor description skills). It is the outfit under her normal armor, after Ikaruga cuts up the outer armor in the Tower of Heaven Arc.


	6. Chapter 6

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 6**

 _Early December_

The weather became more chillier and snow started to fall down. For the children of Magnolia it was time to go out and play. However it was the opposite for the University students. Instead, it was time for them to hole up in the library studying without sleep. Finals* week was approaching soon.

Lucy, who was always a smart student and done well in all her classes, was also feeling the stress. She was not worried about the final exams, because she had studied well and her classes were not that hard. However, everyone else around her was stressed, which in turn made her feel stressed as well.

Natsu was worried as well, but for a different reason. During their Intro to Business class, he caught Professor Bora staring in his direction many times during lecture. He first thought that Bora was looking at him, but he then realized that Bora was looking at Lucy, as she sat next to Natsu.

Natsu continued to observe the Professor's behavior for the next couple of classes. He confirmed that Bora kept looking at Lucy, but he could not figure out why. However, one time, when Professor Bora was passing out papers, he dropped them near Lucy. Lucy being a kind soul, helped him pick them up. Natsu watched in anger as he saw that Bora looked down Lucy's shirt as she bent down.

Bora was lusting over Lucy! Natsu didn't know what to do, should he tell Lucy or the Dean? He didn't have any evidence, so he knew that it would be a lost cause talking to the University official. He didn't want to freak Lucy out, so he decided to keep it to himself, but swore to himself that he would protect her. Anyways after finals, they will never have to see Professor Bora again.

Lucy was almost done with her finals, her last exam was for her Intro to Business class. One of the TA's* was conducting the test. As Lucy finished her exam before Natsu, she went to turn it in. The TA handed her a note and she left the classroom. She saw that the note was from Professor Bora.

 _Miss Ashley,_

 _I need to talk to you about a grading error. Please come to my office after the exam._

\- _Professor Bora_

Lucy told Natsu that she would wait for him after the exam, but the note seemed like it was about something important. Natsu would understand why she had to see the Professor, she thought. Lucy walked to Bora's office, which was at the end of the of the hallway. She knocked on the door and entered the office.

Professor Bora was looking at his computer and grinned when Lucy walked in. She asked him, "You wanted to see me professor?"

"Yes," Professor Bora replied looking at his computer and typed something in. Pointing at the computer, "Could you look over the grade book I have and see if everything looks okay?" He got up from his chair and gestured for Lucy to sit.

She sat down and looked at her grades to see if everything looked okay. She didn't notice Bora walking over to the door and locking it. When she found a mistake in the grade, she bent down to reach her bag, to find the assignment. Professor Bora looked over her body lecherously, licking his lips. As she was explaining the grade inconsistency, he went behind her and bent over to touch the computer. His right hand was dangerous close to her hand and her back was almost touching his front. Feeling uncomfortable, Lucy tried to move the chair, but Bora stopped her.

 _Same Time at the Intro to Business Classroom_

Natsu was one of the last people to finish the exam and went outside to find Lucy and couldn't find her. He was supposed to meet her after the exam. Then he remembered that the TA handed her a slip, so he went back inside to ask the TA.

The TA confused, told Natsu that Professor Bora gave him the slip. Color drained from Natsu's face. He immediately grabbed the TA by the shoulder and asked him where Bora's office was. Natsu started running to the office, in his anger he ended grabbing the TA with him.

The poor TA had to run along with the worried Natsu. They got to the office and they heard loud noises coming from inside the classroom. Natsu tried to open the door but it was locked. Desperate to get in, he tried to slam the door open with his shoulder. The TA stopped him and said "Wait, I have the key." As a TA they got keys to the professor's office. At this point the TA was also concerned about what was going on inside.

They opened the door and saw Professor Bora pining both Lucy's arms against the wall. Her shirt was ripped wide open and her bra and stomach was exposed.

 _Few Moments Ago in Bora's Office_

Lucy tried to get away from the Bora, but he held the chair tight in his grip.

"What are you doing?" She tried to continue to escape.

Bora trailed a finger down her face, "What I wanted to do for long time." When his finger got near her mouth, she bit on it. With Bora backing away due to the sudden pain, Lucy ran towards the door. Bora quicker than her, caught her and pushed her to the wall. Using one hand he pinned Lucy's hands over her head. With the other hand, he ripped the buttons of her shirt leaving her exposed. Lucy tried to squirm away, but Bora used his other hand to hold both of her hands firmly. He leaned his face towards her neck, licking it. Neither of them noticed the door handle moving and when the door opened, Bora whipped his head around. Lucy using this distraction, kicked him and pushed him off her. She saw Natsu standing at the door and ran towards to his arms and held on to him.

Some of the other professors who had offices near Bora's came out to see the commotion. They saw Bora on the ground and Lucy's disheveled look and connected the dots. Natsu comforted her rubbing her arms and hold her tight. He gave her his sweatshirt to cover herself up.

The Dean of the school was called over. He immediately called all the witnesses, except for Bora into his office. He heard the stories from everyone but Lucy. He dismissed everyone including a reluctant Natsu, to talk to Lucy.

When they were left alone, the Dean said, "Lucy, I'm Dean Yajima. I promise to take the most appropriate action, but I need to hear your side of the story."

Lucy told him what had transpired in the office. At the end of the story, she told the Dean that she didn't want to sue Bora or put him in jail. She knew that if that happened, her father would find out what happened and pull her out of school.

Yajima stared at her, "Lucy, you know that I am aware of your real identity. With your father's resources, Bora can be put in jail."

Lucy countered, "I don't want him to find out, he will pull me out of school. I actually don't want anyone in the school to find out. All I want is Professor Bora out of this school. The best thing of me is to move on and forget about all this."

Yajima considered what she said, "Very well, I had already thought about firing Bora, but I won't call the authorities. Also I will make sure that the witnesses are sworn to secrecy." Lucy nodded in thanks and started to leave. Yajima interrupted and asked, "How was your first semester of college before today?"

Lucy smiled, "Amazing." She left the office and went to find Natsu. She found him sitting on a bench outside. "Hey." she said.

Natsu turned to her with a sad face, "I'm sorry Lucy. This was all my fault."

She was confused, "What do you mean? I should be thanking you, you came at the right time before anything could happen."

"No, not that. This whole thing could have been prevented." He sighed, "I saw that he was staring at you a lot with a creepy gaze. I didn't tell you, because I didn't want you to be worried. If I told you, you would have avoided him and this whole thing wouldn't have happened."

Lucy pondered for a moment, "Okay, let's say this didn't happen to me today. Bora is still a pervert and maybe another girl could have gotten hurt, if he had stayed at the school. He is gone now and school become a little more safer without him." Lucy took a pause, "Even if this happened to me today, the outcome was still positive."

"How could you say that? What if I didn't come in time? I hate to think what could have happened to you." Natsu raged on.

"Nothing happened to me okay, let's just forget about this and enjoy our few hours of freedom before we need to head back home." Lucy pleaded.

They had planned to hang out at the park after the exam, before they needed to go to the train station. Instead, they were in Lucy's dorm enjoying some hot chocolate and marshmallows. They didn't plan to exchange Christmas presents, but they still had gifts for each other in their bags.

Lucy dug into her bag and pulled out her present of him, "I wanted to give you this for Christmas because we both will be far away from each other during that time." He took it with a smile and opened it. It was a painting of a dragon breathing out fire. "You remind me of a dragon," she explained. Natsu loved it, Dragons were such cool creatures. He gave her present to her. She opened it and it was a necklace with a Sakura flower*. She smiled and gave him a hug.

It was time to go to the train station, they said farewell and went in opposite direction. Lucy got on to the train to her hometown. When she got out of the train station, she found Capricorn waiting outside dutifully. Giving him a hug, she got inside the car. As they got closer to the front of the house, she saw all the maids standing outside and was disappointed her dad was not waiting for her. She said hello to all the maids and went inside.

Jude was waiting in the from looking at the gardens through a window. When he heard the door close he said, "Welcome home, Lucy." He expected her to run and hug him, but instead she stood by the door. Feeling embarrassed about his expectations, he tried save his composure, "We can talk after you get some rest…oomph" He was interrupted by his daughter slamming into him in a hug. She sobbed into his shoulder and was shaking. He knew that something was wrong, "Lucy, what's the matter?".

She hiccupped, "Nothing, I just missed you Papa." Jude knew that there was something wrong and he would find out. After a few minutes she let him go and wiped her tears.

"Why don't you get some rest and we will talk during dinner?" Jude suggested. Lucy piped up, it's been so long since she had a bath, because the dorms only had showers. She excused herself and went to her room. He went to his office and called up his private investigator. Not wanting anything to happen to his daughter, he sent one of his men to check up on her once in a while. Looking at the pictures he received, he saw his daughter smiling and hanging out with many friends. The weird pink hair boy was in a lot of photos, he noticed. After talking to the PI*, he couldn't find anything out.

As a last resort, he decided to call Dean Yajima. Getting straight to the point, "Do you know what happened to Lucy?"

As Jude was an old friend, Yajima felt uncomfortable lying to him, but he also made a promise to Lucy. Jude took the silence as conformation that something did happen to Lucy. "I told Lucy I won't tell you, she didn't want you to pull her out of school" Yajima said.

Jude sighed, pinching his nose, "I won't pull her out of school, I'm just concerned about what happened." Yajima finally told him about Bora and Lucy's decision to not sue him. Thanking Yajima, Jude stared at a picture of young Lucy and Layla and sighed. He was extremely grateful that nothing worse happened to Lucy, but this was the kind of thing he was worried about. He knew that taking Lucy out of college would break her heart, so he decided to think about it a little bit longer.

Lucy felt extremely refreshed and calm after her bath and went down for dinner. She told her father about her classes, job, club, and friends. She talked animatedly and had the hugest grin on her face. Jude observed her while she was narrating and concluded that he will allow her to continue with college, but the next time something like this happens, she is coming straight home he thought. He also heard the name "Natsu" pop up in the conversation a lot, he must be the pink kid, Jude thought. He needs to keep an eye on that boy, making a mental note.

As much as Lucy enjoyed college, she was glad to be home. Over the winter break she spend time doing many activities. Her father taught her a little bit about one area of the company. Since she learnt business in school, she was able to understand many concepts. Jude was impressed by her knowledge and questions. Even though Bora was a shit person, he at least taught her about business. She asked Capricorn for more lessons on fighting and self-defense. Lucy and Natsu texted a few times, both quite busy. On Christmas Morning, Lucy was used to celebrating alone, but this year her father made sure to take the full day of work. She was able to spend the day with her father and she gave him a gift. It was a box full of the Christmas presents she tried to give him since she was seven, but he was always too busy. Jude realized how much he missed from Lucy's childhood and vowed to spend more time with her. Jude gave Lucy some of her mother's pictures, when she was Lucy's age.

This new year, things would be different, for both of them.

* * *

 _*Finals- end of the semester exams for each class._

 _*TA – Teacher Assistants, helps professors with grading, sometimes oversees exams._

*Sakura - is Japanese for cherry blossom and is also the name of their dorm.

*PI- private investigator

AN: Bora is now gone! Next chapter will be the beginning of the next semester. Lucy will interact more with Gray and Erza.


	7. Chapter 7

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the Characters._

 **Chapter 7**

Lucy's next semester was started off smoothly with her new classes, Natsu again was in two of her classes. She continued working at the bookstore and Natsu continued to climb up into her room every Sunday evening.

 _First Week of February, Fairy Tail Meeting Room _

Lisanna stared at Natsu, who was fighting with Gray at the bar. She had joined the club in the beginning of January and had helped her sister Mirajane with club activities. Lisanna was intrigued by Natsu and began to observe him. She liked his nice personality and his willingness to help everyone.

She walked over to Natsu and asked him if she could speak to him. Lisanna explained her feelings and asked him to the movies and dinner on Valentine's Day.

Natsu was shocked, he was not expecting this at all, he barely knew Lisanna. However she seems nice and she asked him on a date very politely. He had dated before, but never had a serious girlfriend. Natsu accepted, unsure of her expectations for him. Lisanna smiled brightly and hugged Natsu tightly.

Natsu walked over slowly to Lucy, who observed their exchange from her table. He had a worried look on her face. She asked him what was wrong.

"I have a date with Lisanna Strauss on Valentine's Day." he said.

Lucy widen her eyes, "Natsu, that's great news." Looking over at Lisanna she asked, "She is Mirajane's sister right? She seems like a nice girl. Why do you seem worried?"

Natsu explained, "I don't know her well and I don't have any feelings for her. What if she wants more than this one date? I don't want to hurt her feelings."

Lucy smiled at her best friend, he was so sweet and kind sometimes. "Natsu, it is just one date for now. At the end, you just need to be honest with her. Sure she might be hurt at that moment, but she will appreciate you being honest."

Natsu looked up at his friend, she was so smart. Whoever she dates will be lucky he thought.

 _Next Day_

Lucy stood in front of Natsu and Gray's dorm room. Several boys who came to the bookstore had asked Lucy on dates, but she declined. However not wanting to spend Valentines by herself (Levy was doing a job with Jet and Droy on that day), she decided to ask Gray if he had any plans and knocked on the door.

Gray came out confused, "Natsu is not here now."

"That's okay, I wanted to talk to you." Lucy said. Gray gestured for her to come in and she walked in. "Do you have any plans on Valentine's Day?" she asked.

"No, not really." Gray said. He actually planning on going to a club and drinking at the bar, but he didn't want to tell Lucy that.

"If you don't have any plans, then hang out with me on that day. I will pay for dinner." Lucy said.

Gray chocked out, "A date? With you?"

Lucy blushed and clarified, "No, not a date, just as a friends." Then she became offended, "Wait, what's wrong with going on a date with me?" Did Gray think there was something wrong with her?

Gray's eyes widened, "Oh god no, you are gorgeous and a really nice person Lucy. I just never felt that way about you."

She smiled, "Thank you Gray, I feel the same way. I will see you on Valentines." She headed to the door and turned her head around, "And Gray? Please make sure you wear clothes that day." Lucy left the room and left Gray completely embarrassed by his sudden lack of clothes.

 _Few Days Later: Valentine Day_

Natsu was in his room getting ready for his date with Lisanna. He had talked to her a couple of times after she asked him out and found that she was a nice person. Gray was also getting dressed up; Natsu wondered why Gray bothered to wear clothes when he ended up naked most of the time. Hearing a knock on the door, he went to open it.

Lucy was standing there wearing a tight fitting sweater and skin tight jeans. She would have like to wear a dress, but it was still quite cold in Magnolia and opted to wear pants. "Hey Lucy, what are you doing here?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but Gray came up and wrapped his arm around Lucy. "She is here to see me, flame brain." Gray answered. Wanting to mess with Natsu a little bit, Gray gave Lucy a cheek kiss and said, "She's my date tonight. Have fun on yours." Gray slammed the door on Natsu's shocked face.

Natsu stood in his room for a moment thinking about what Gray had said. Lucy on a date with Gray? Sweet, innocent Lucy with pervert, rude Gray? Sudden images of Lucy wearing cat ears and being spanked by Gray came to his head. Pushing the highly erotic image out of his mind, he left to go meet up with Lisanna.

 _Gray and Lucy_

True to her word Lucy paid for dinner and they enjoyed a whole pizza together. Lucy found Gray really charming and nice. Lucy found that Gray was adopted when he was 7 and had two other siblings. His older brother, Lyon, also went to Magnolia University. He was a year ahead than Gray and Lucy.

They went to and ice cream store and Gray refused to let Lucy pay for dessert. After dinner Gray suggested they go to the ice skating rink. Lucy hadn't ice skated for a while, so she agreed immediately. She used to skate during the winter on the frozen lake on her family's estate when she was younger.

When they got on the rink it took a few minutes for Lucy to get adjusted. Gray was really good with skating and told her how his foster mom made him skate without a shirt to embrace the cold. It was nice night and there were many couples. The DJ was playing slow and romantic songs. They skated around the rink several times, suddenly Lucy was stopped by a white hair man.

"Are you Gray's girl?" he asked coldly, looking at Gray.

Gray sighed, "Fuck off, Lyon." Lucy looked at Lyon, this was Gray's foster brother, she thought.

Lyon judged Lucy, "She a decent skater, like you. Just _decent_." Lyon told Gray, implying that Gray was a mediocre skater.

Gray growled, "I can beat you anytime, anywhere Lyon." Lucy knew this growl of Gray, she heard it every time him and Natsu fought. She sighed, knowing that this would end up in a fight.

A pink haired girl skated towards them, "Lyon, what is wrong?" Lyon put his arm around the girl and she swooned.

"This is my date Sherry, I bet that we could bet you and blondie in an ice skating race." Lyon boasted. Sherry melted in his arms, happy that Lyon was holding her.

Gray, not one to back down from a fight grabbed Lucy, "Oh yeah? Lucy and I can beat you two losers."

At this point there was a crowd gathered around four of them. They heard the whole conversation. Gray and Lyon went on one side of the rink and Sherry and Lucy stood on the opposite side. The crowd separated to give them space.

Lucy was amused by the crowd's excitement. There was even several judges on the finish line and people recording on their phones. When the race started Lucy and Sherry skated towards Lyon and Gray. After slapping the girls hands, Gray and Lyon headed towards to the finish line.

The judges were stumped because Gray and Lyon crossed the line at the same time. It was such a close tie, they were not sure who the winner was. Seeing Gray and Lyon about to get into a fight, she asked the DJ to play an upbeat song. She grabbed Sherry's hand and skated towards the boys. Grabbing Lyon's hands she pulled him far away from Gray and towards the center of the rink.

Using the music she danced and pushed Sherry onto Lyon. Sherry, understanding Lucy's plan, started to dance with a confused Lyon. Lucy grabbed other couples to join them in the center of the rink. She found Gray and started dancing with him; Gray who was tired from the adrenaline of the race relaxed and danced with her too. She saw Lyon, who was fully enjoying himself, dance with Sherry. Lucy smiled, she could tell that Sherry really liked Lyon. Soon almost everyone on the ice rink was dancing to the music. (Well… dancing the best they could on ice skates lol).

 _Natsu and Lisanna_

Natsu was walking Lisanna back to her room. He had a good time with Lisanna, but he didn't feel any connection to her. Lisanna stopped and turned to Natsu. She stood on her toes and kissed him. Natsu was shocked, but kissed her back. After few moments, she pulled away.

"I like you Natsu, but I just kept thinking that there was no spark between us during our date. I tried to kiss you, to see if I felt something there. I'm sorry Natsu." Lisanna explained.

Natsu stood their baffled, he was trying to think of ways to reject her, but here she was rejecting him instead. He just nodded and said, "It's okay Lisanna, I didn't feel a connection either. I still had a fun date regardless." She smiled and thanked him and went inside her room.

Natsu walking to his room, got a notification from the school app on the phone. It kept students aware of the events happening at the University. Opening it he read the headline, " _Students Lucy Ashley, Gray Fullbuster, Lyon Vastia, and Sherry Blendy compete in an ice skating race."_ clicking on the link, he saw the relay race that they competed in.

His mood decreased dramatically, when he saw Gray with Lucy. What did she see in that ice bastard anyways he thought.

 _Next Day: Economic Class_

Lucy sat next to Natsu in her Economic class and said good morning. Natsu in a sour mood asked, "So you and Gray are a couple now?"

Lucy only laughed and shook her head, "He was joking yesterday, we just spent the evening as friends. I had wonderful time with Gray, I think we became better friends now."

Natsu was jealous and reminded her, "I'm your best friend, not that ice dick."

"Aww, is somebody jealous?" she teased. "Don't worry, no matter what, you will always be my best friend. Anyways how did your date with Lisanna go?"

Natsu told Lucy how Lisanna ended up rejecting him instead. Lucy found that extremely hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. During the class whenever she looked at Natsu, she burst into giggles. He just pouted at her, feeling his pride hurt.

Later that night, she forwarded the ice rink video to her father, also including that Gray was just a friend. Jude had asked Lucy to keep in touch at least once every week.

The next morning, she got a reply from him: _"This reminds me of a date I had with your mother. We also went to an ice skating rink. I fell many times, but your mother was always patient and helped me up. If you are interested, I will tell you the rest next time you are home."_

* * *

AN: So yeah, Sherry ends up with Lyon in this story. Lisanna is not an evil person, but she won't make too many other appearance. I wanted Lucy and Gray to spend some time together, but Natsu was jealous haha. Next chapter Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy will go a job together.


	8. Chapter 8

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 8**

 _Late March_

After the mission, where Natsu and Lucy had to set Jellal and Erza up, Erza became close friends with Lucy. Erza told Lucy that Jellal and her decided to start off again as friends and that Jellal is working on quitting the drug business. Erza also felt more confident in talking to Lucy, because she was her friend.

However today was different, Erza stared at Lucy across the bar and was hesitant to approach her. She had a huge favor to ask Lucy, so she walked over to her and ask if they could talk in private. When they were alone, she blurted out, "I need your help on a job."

Lucy was surprised, "You want my help? I thought you normally do it solo?"

Erza explained, "This job is not from Fairy Tail, it's a personal one. Few months back I got help from a detective for one of my jobs. Now he is asking me for a favor. The job is a bit more tricky than I am used to, so I would like your help."

Lucy considered what Erza said and asked, "Is it dangerous?"

"It will be dangerous if we are not careful. If we do everything right, then we should be fine." the red head answered.

She thought for a few minutes, "Alright I will do it, but if things go wrong, I will call the police. We think about our safety first."

"I agree. We need to go to Oshibana, lets meet up at the train station tomorrow afternoon. Also don't tell Natsu about this, we need to keep this quiet."

Lucy nodded and went back to the table she was sitting on. Natsu approached her and asked what Erza wanted. Lucy told him it was nothing, but Natsu could tell that she was lying. He could tell that Lucy was worried and he was determined to find out what they were up to.

 _Next Day_

Lucy met Erza at the train station, Erza brought a big bag of supplies. Lucy saw chains, ropes, pliers, tape and other equipment, and she immediately paled. She hope that they wouldn't have to use it. They got the tickets and went to sit on the train. Lucy saw the city of Magnolia began to disappear as the train began to leave. She thought she heard a familiar voice, but was distracted by Erza talking to her.

"So Erza, what is the job?" she enquired.

"The detective has been trying to find the headquarters of the Eisenwald gang for several months, but has been unsuccessful, because they are deeply hidden."

At this point, Lucy was positive that she heard Natsu's voice. Gesturing to Erza to be quiet, she walked several seats down from where they were seating. Slowly creeping up she saw the familiar strands of pink sticking out from top of the seat. "Natsu, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked. She saw that Gray was also sitting next to him as well. "Gray, why are you here too?" Lucy asked, Erza, who followed Lucy, was annoyed and worried that they were here.

"Well, I had to follow this idiot to make sure he didn't do anything stupid." Gray answered.

Natsu retorted, "No one asked you to come. I'm capable of handling myself."

Erza felt her anger growing, "You two are leaving at the next stop. You guys shouldn't have come."

"No, Lucy is my friend and I know that this job will be dangerous. You might be okay with putting her in danger, but I am not." Natsu said seriously. Erza glared at him a little longer and thought about what he said.

Erza sighed and then said, "Fine the two of you can stay, you guys might actually be useful. But remember, this is a very important job so you both need to be serious." Natsu and Gray nodded.

Lucy did not show it, but she was glad that Natsu and Gray were here. She always felt safe with Natsu and Gray. "Anyways, Erza could you explain the mission to the three of us?" she asked.

"We need to find the Eisenwald gang's headquarters. There is a man, Kageyama, who is pretty up in the gang's ladder. However he is known to be capable of disappearing and being untraceable. The gang has been distributing a drug called the "lullaby", it is very dangerous and it shouldn't be on the streets. Kageyama is going to be at a bar tonight, to conduct a drug deal. After he leaves we need to follow him until we find the headquarters."

"So, we are just following this man?" Gray clarified. He wouldn't say it aloud, but this was pretty exciting mission. He knew that Natsu thought so as well.

"We use our phones to take pictures and keep in touch. Watch the drug deal from a far and track the headquarters down." Erza ordered. She opened her bag and said, "Each of you guys choose a weapon to defend yourself just in case." Lucy choose a whip, Natsu found a pair of nun chucks, and Gray got a wooden staff. All three of them had no idea how to properly use these weapons but took them just in case.

 _Oshibana: Local Bar _

Gray and Lucy were sitting at table in the back of the bar. Erza showed them a picture of Kageyama, so they were looking around the bar for the man. Natsu and Erza were hiding outside near the entrance. Lucy and Gray got a text, "He's here." They looked up and saw Kageyama walking towards the bartender and asking for a drink.

They saw him make eye contact to another man and saw that indicated to meet up near the bathrooms. Gray grabbed Lucy and headed to the hallway that connected to the bathroom. He pushed her towards the wall and put his mouth on her neck gently sucking it. Lucy knew that he was doing it so they wouldn't look suspicious, but she still felt extremely awkward.

After the two men passed them, she let Gray know. They both followed the two men into a back alley. Lucy had her camera out and Gray was updating Erza and Natsu. They saw Kageyama open his jacket pocket and pull out a bundle of powders. Lucy also noticed that he had a gun on his belt. The other man took the drugs and gave Kageyama a briefcase.

Kageyama didn't go back to the bar and continued walking through the alley, he seemed to always stay in the shadows and out of the moonlight. Lucy and Gray followed him until they lost him, but a ring from Erza and Natsu let them know that they found him.

However, Lucy saw that the briefcase Kageyama had was left under the tree. "This must be a drop off. " she thought. Taking a picture of it, she suggested to Gray that whoever picks the money would likely go back to headquarters as well.

Gray said that he would follow the man and that Lucy should keep a huge distance. They saw two men going to the tree and picking up the suitcase. Gray followed them, until one of the men saw Gray. The men split up, one went towards Gray and the other ran away. Lucy followed the one that ran away, hoping that Gray would be okay.

She followed the man and saw him enter an abandoned building. She took pictures of the building and got a text from Gray saying that he knocked out the man with the staff. She replied saying that she found the headquarters. Lucy wanted to confirm that this was the right building, so she went inside.

Moving extremely slowly, she found a room and slid into it. Seeing a bunch of blue prints and financial ledgers she took quick pictures of them. Suddenly she heard the door being opened and she ducked under the table. Praying that the person would not look under the table, she sat completely still. When the door closed again, she sprinted carefully out of the room and out of the building.

The four of them agree that if they got separated they would meet up at the train station. Lucy quickly flagged down a taxi and went to the station. She was so scared, she couldn't think about anything but getting to her friends. She didn't notice her phone light up with bunch of texts.

Hopping out of the car, she ran to the meeting spot. She saw the three of them there and Natsu who saw her first ran towards her and gave her a hug. Erza and Gray followed.

"Where were you?" Natsu asked.

"I found the headquarters, but I wanted to make sure, so I went inside." Lucy foolishly said.

"Are you stupid? That is dumbest thing you could have possible done." Natsu berated.

"Natsu, leave her alone." Erza said. "Was it the headquarters?" Lucy nodded. "Good work Lucy. I wish you would have texted us about your plan to go inside, we were worried because you weren't answering your phone." Erza said. She looked at Lucy's neck and pointed. "You are hurt. I am going there to beat everyone up." Erza walked away, grabbing a sword from her bag.

"Wait." Lucy blushed from head to toe. "I'm not hurt, this is a hickey."

"Someone forced themselves on you?" Erza was growing even more angry and Natsu was as well.

"NO, no." Lucy stuttered, "It was..s… Gray." Lucy was dying of embarrassment. Gray who was standing near, also started to blush as well.

Erza immediately calm down, "I didn't know that you two were a thing." She stared at both of them, "I approve Lucy, Gray is a nice boy."

Gray spoke up, "We are not dating, I did it to make us look less suspicious." He looked at Lucy, "Right?" She nodded back.

Erza was not convinced, "Well you two have my blessing for when you decide to date."

On the train back, Lucy and Gray could not stop blushing at each other. Natsu was sulking in his seat, irritated at the two of them. Lucy showed Erza the pictures of the headquarters and inside. Erza said that she was proud of Lucy and was thankful that she came.

 _Just Before Spring Break: Magnolia Books _

Lucy was working at the bookstore, cleaning and putting the books back on the shelves. She had shown the store to Levy and the bluenette used to come often. However she was spending too much on books, so she needed to cut back; thus reducing her trips to the store.

"Lucy dear, can you come in here?" Rob called from his office. She went inside and sat on a chair. Rob looked at her and sighed, "Lucy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to shut the store down soon."

Lucy started to protest, "Is it because of money? I have some and I can help you out. Or you can reduce my wages?" She loved this place, it gave her so much inspiration for her writing and it gave her peace and serenity. Even though it was a job, she looked forward to working, even on days were she was tired.

Rob held a hand up to stop her ranting and bluntly said, "Lucy, I have cancer." Lucy felt devastated, Rob was the nicest man she had ever met. She saw him like grandfather figure.

Seeing that she was unable to speak he said, "I will be going to my hometown to live out my last few months in peace. I am giving the bookstore to you. I have never met such a kind woman like you before and I want you to have it. No ifs and buts."

Lucy couldn't speak anymore and bursting into tears. She was getting all these books that she loved and Rob was dying. Rob sighed and gave her a hug. It hurts him to see her like this, but he knew that his time on this earth was coming up.

The next day (Friday), Lucy skipped all her classes because she was too depressed and tired. She sent a quick text to Levy and Natsu saying that she was going home a day early. She was supposed to go home on Saturday for spring break, instead she decided to leave now. When she got off at the train station of her home town, Capricorn was not there waiting for her, because she didn't tell anyone that she was coming home. She found a taxi to take her to the Heartfillia Estate; the security guard was surprised at seeing the young mistress unexpectedly and let her in.

Since her maids weren't around, she went to her room by herself. She took a long warm bath, during her bath, Virgo came in with a broom thinking that an intruder was inside. Virgo realized it was Lucy and bowed down profusely. Lucy started laughing hysterically, until she started crying all over again.

Once she came out of the shower, the whole household was alerted that their mistress was home. It threw everyone in a panic and they all rushed to meet her. After saying hello to everyone, she went out into the garden and sat in front of her mother's grave.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the time going by. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw her father coming to sit next to her. "Hello Lucy, I didn't expect to see you here today. I heard you gave Virgo a fright." Jude said.

"Hello Papa, sorry for coming with any notice, I was not feeling well today."

"Lucy, you are welcome anytime, this is your home." Jude said. Lucy gave her father a hug and together they watched the sunset.

* * *

AN: I hope the mission wasn't too boring. In this story Natsu does not have motion sickness. I have a plan for Gajeel's and Juvia's entrance coming up soon in a few chapters.


	9. Chapter 9

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters._

 **Chapter 9**

As much as Lucy wanted to keep the bookstore, she knew that she didn't have the time to manage it. Using her father's help, she moved the books into a storage space and sold the store. Her father put the money away for her into an account if she needed it.

However, Lucy wanted to earn her own money so she started looking for another job. She found a small restaurant called _8- Island_ with nice owners. She applied as a waitress and would start after the summer holidays.

Also she needed to start looking for an apartment for next year. She was considering asking Levy if she wanted to find a place with her, however Levy told her that she already found a place in a girls' hostel* called "Fairy Hills". Lucy found out that Erza, Mirajane and several other girls from Fairy Tail were living there, but the rent was too high and the worst part was that there were no bath tubs.

When looking for her apartment, a nice bath tub was a priority. She found a nice place on Strawberry Street and it was near a river canal, boats would pass on by. She discussed with the landlady and agreed she will move in at the end of the summer.

Natsu was also looking for a place, but he didn't find anything he liked. One day when he was in Lucy's room, he saw the apartment contract on her desk. "Hmm, Strawberry Street?" he thought, looking at the paper. Natsu then realized that he didn't actually care where he lived, he just wanted to have his best friend nearby.

He set out to find any apartments close to Lucy's on Strawberry Street and he got lucky! There was a vacancy just under Lucy's floor. He looked out the window and calculated if he could climb into her apartment from the one underneath.

The landlady was a little bit weirded out that this boy was only interested in the window. He didn't even check the rooms or baths, he just went straight to the window. However, she saw that he had money and rented the place to him.

"I can't wait to surprise Lucy next year!" he thought. Natsu was not going to tell her that he would be her new neighbor, until she moved in.

 _Last Day of School_

Natsu and Lucy were hanging out after their exams at the park.

"Lucy, do you have any plans this summer?" Natsu asked. She never talked about her holidays or where she is from and Natsu was curious.

"Oh I just plan on spending time in my hometown." she answered vaguely. Her actual identity was still a secret to all her friends.

"Maybe we could meet up sometime this summer, maybe go to the beach?" Natsu asked.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty busy this summer. Maybe when I come back, we can go to the beach then?" Lucy suggested. She tried changing the topic to their classes.

Natsu sighed, she was so secretive he thought. He wondered if her home life was okay. He would leave the topic alone for now.

 _HUGE TIME SKIP – Beginning of Second Semester_

Jude had offered to send Capricorn to help Lucy move in, but she refused and wanted to do it by herself. She had the moving company help her bring the bed, dresser, and other boxes. They were almost done, when she saw Natsu standing outside her door.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?"

"Lucy, I just wanted to see who my new neighbor? What are you doing here?" Natsu pretended to not know that Lucy was also living here. He didn't want her to think that he was creepy for getting the place to be near her.

"You live here?" She asked in disbelief. There was no way the two of them choose the exact same apartment building.

"Yeah, I moved in few days ago." Natsu looked around, "Looks like we are going to be neighbors."

Lucy thought about the situation for a moment and then beamed, "Yep looks like we will be neighbors." She smiled, Natsu was her best friend and she felt safe with him.

Natsu sighed internally, Lucy was not suspicious of him and seemed fine with him living there.

Lucy bent down to pick up a box, sweat dripped down from her neck into her very deep cleavage. Natsu felt his throat dry up looking at her and saw that the other moving guys were staring as well. He abruptly stood in front of her and said, "How many more boxes do you have left? I can help."

The moving guys soon left and Lucy needed to start unpacking the boxes. She gave him a glass of cold water and he told her about his summer. Lucy wanted to change and take a shower, so she sent him on his way and she stepped inside her room.

After her shower, she finished unpacking and started to get hungry, so she ordered some pizza on the phone. Few minutes later she heard the doorbell ring, thinking it was the pizza, she opened the door.

Loke stood at the door, "Hello, princess."

"Loke!" she screamed. Lucy hadn't seen him in so long. She gave him a big hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Your father sent me here to take care of some business and to keep an eye on you once in a while. I live nearby and if you ever need me, I will come whenever." Loke said. Lucy now remembered this was one of the conditions on the contract she signed a year ago.

"Also, I know yesterday was your birthday, but I brought some cake." Loke lifted a bag up.

"Thank you for remembering. I have pizza coming soon, so please join me for dinner." Lucy said. Loke came in and they both sat on the table. Lucy heard the doorbell and went to go get the pizza.

Natsu climbed up to her window, wanting to talk to her more before he went to bed. As he opened the window, he felt himself being grabbed and pulled on to the ground with both his arms behind his back. He looked up and saw a handsome man holding him down. "Who are you?" Natsu asked.

The man, lifted an eyebrow, "You are the one trespassing and you're asking who I am?"

Lucy walked back into the room, "Loke!" she ran towards them. "This is my friend Natsu."

"He just climbed into the window." Loke said in disbelief.

"Yeah, apparently he is my new neighbor and he does tend to climb into my room quite often." Lucy sighed. "Natsu, come on in. We have pizza and cake."

Lucy introduced Natsu and Loke to each other. As they were both suspicious of each other, the air around them was hostile. Natsu's mood changed, when he found out that Lucy's birthday was the day before. They both immediately joined forces to sing Lucy the birthday song and they all ate cake and pizza.

 _Sunday: Beach_

Erza suggested that the group could go to the beach before the semester started. So Gray, Cana, Levy, Erza, Lucy and Natsu went to the beach. Lucy invited Loke as well because he was new to town. The group of 7 attracted a lot of attention at the beach: Three handsome guys and four beautiful ladies. They were the subject of many stares, but soon was left alone when the beach spectators saw how intense they were.

They had a volley ball match boys vs. girls (Levy chose to read her book). Erza, Gray, and Natsu were extremely competitive and kept fighting over the match. Soon they got tired and headed into the ocean. Lucy was staying next to Loke for most of the day, which Natsu noticed.

Gray wanting to tease Natsu, said to him, "Looks like Lucy found a new _best friend_." Natsu felt his jealously rising quickly. When he saw Loke flirting with some random girls, he took that chance to sit next to Lucy on the beach towel.

"So it looks like you and Loke are pretty close?" Natsu asked.

"Yes are. We have known each other forever, like since we were little kids. We really understand each other really well." she said.

Natsu felt even more jealous, even though he couldn't understand why. "Oh, really?" he said sulkily.

Lucy understanding that Natsu was jealous for their friendship quickly added, "I mean, we are quite close as cousins can be."

Natsu perked up, "They were cousins?" he thought. His body suddenly felt more relieved and calm. He didn't understand why he was so happy. Also what he didn't understand was why he felt jealous in the first place.

Suddenly he got hit by a volley ball, "Hey flame brain, ready to lose?" Gray taunted. All thoughts of Lucy left Natsu's mind and he enjoyed their day at the beach.

 _Next Sunday_

Lucy tried to be strong as she wore her black dress and shoes. It was hard for her not to think about her mom who also died when she was seven.

After her first week of school, she got a call saying that Rob had passed away and that the funeral was on Sunday. Lucy thought it was so soon, she thought that Rob would live longer, he had seem so healthy few months back.

At the funeral, she was surprised to see Yajima and Markarov there as well. It seems that the three of them were really close friends. She wiped some tears as the casket was lowered into the ground.

When she came home, she went to the fridge to get some ice cream and she heard the familiar sound of her window being opened. Without turning around she said, "Natsu, I really want to be alone tonight. Can we talk tomorrow?" She didn't hear any reply, so she assumed that Natsu left.

A few seconds later she felt something rub against her leg, "What the?" she almost screamed. Looking down she saw a cat near her feet, it had gray fur that almost looked blue. She nearly melted at the cuteness of it and bent down to pick it up. "Who are you? Are you a boy or girl?" she asked the cat.

"He's a boy." Natsu said watching from the window. Lucy turned around holding the cat in her arms.

"Is he yours?" she asked while gently petting the cat.

"Yeah, I found him on the streets today morning and I couldn't leave him alone, so I brought him with me." Natsu explained.

"Does the building even allow pets?" she asked. Lucy didn't remember anything about pets in the apartment contract.

"Yep. I checked the contract." he said.

Lucy was delighted that Natsu would keep this cat. Lucy fell in love with it the second she held him in her arms. "What are you going to name him?"

"Happy."

"That's a strange name. When did you think of it?"

"Just now. I saw how he changed your mood right now and made you happy."

Lucy smiled and repeated "Happy."

* * *

*Hostel- A huge house with multiple rooms that is shared by many people.

AN: Happy is here! And Loke lol. Natsu is starting to think more about Lucy. Will he be the first one to notice his feelings? Or will Lucy? Gajeel and Juvia in the next chapter! Huge time skip as well.


	10. Chapter 10

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 10**

I'm skipping all the way to the end of Lucy's second year in order for the story to progress. Basically Lucy worked at the restaurant, went to her classes, did a few jobs for Fairy Tail, and went home for winter and spring break. Natsu continued to climb into her room often and they became even closer.

 _Early May_

Lucy and Levy were in the school library studying and reading together. They were in the library for a couple of hours now. Lucy saw the time and she needed to head back to her place. Levy wanted to stay a little bit longer to continue reading her book.

Levy closed the last page of the book and stretched. She looked outside and it was pitch black, she saw the time on her phone was around midnight. Levy was about to call a taxi, but Fairy Hills was only a 10 minutes away.

As she was walking home, she started to hear yelling and commotion. Knowing about the gangs in Magnolia, Levy found a tree to hide behind. She could see four men, breaking into a convenience store. She was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Yo, Gajeel stay outside and be the lookout." Levy heard one of the men say. She saw a tall man with pierced eyebrows stay outside, while the rest of the men went into the store. Levy knew that she should have started running away, but she was too frozen to move. She took some pictures of the men inside the store, catching them in the act.

Suddenly, she saw the man who was on the lookout see her. "Oh, no. He saw me. I'm in so much trouble." Levy thought. He stared at her and then motioned for her to leave. "What? He is letting me go?" Thankful for the man, whose name she remembered was Gajeel, Levy started running away.

The next day, Levy sent the photos to the Magnolia Police and they were able to apprehend the other three guys. Levy also had a photo of Gajeel, but since he let her go, she didn't send his photo to the police.

 _Next Week_

Lucy and Levy were walking back from dinner at a restaurant. Lucy suddenly felt strange. "Levy, don't freak out, but I think we are being followed."

Levy immediately stiffened. "Lucy, what should we do?"

Lucy looked around, "We need to get to a more public place. There isn't too many people around. Don't run, walk faster and follow me."

They were about to get to the end of street, but they were stopped by a few thug like men. They grabbed Levy and covered her mouth so she couldn't scream. Lucy also started to grab on the men, so they could let Levy go.

One of the men "We only need the blue hair girl, leave the blonde and let's go."

Lucy was not giving up "Leave Levy, alone!" She kept kicking and punching the men around, but she was outnumbered by the men.

"Ugh, take the blonde bitch as well. We need to hurry." The men blindfolded and tied Levy and Lucy up and threw them into a truck.

After some more shoving, pulling, and dragging, Lucy felt the blindfold being taken off. She saw a man with a long face and a weird moustache staring at Levy and her. "Who are you, why did you take us?" Lucy asked.

"I'm Jose, leader of the Phantom Gang. Did you know your little friend put three of my best guys in jail?" He stared at Levy angrily.

Lucy suddenly understood, Levy told her about the night at the convenience store. Jose must have found about Levy providing the pictures to the police. "What are you going to do to us?" she asked Jose.

"I'm not sure about you yet, but your friend is going to be a hostage, so the police will release the men back." Jose replied. "Put blondie in the other room." he ordered the men.

Two men escorted Lucy to another room, "Hey let's play with this bitch, she has a banging body." The two men looked greedily at Lucy who was on the ground.

Lucy begged, "No please don't." She tried to crawl away. One of the men was getting impatient and slapped her face to make stop moving. The other guy ripped her shirt up and started to pull on her bra.

A cold feminine voice called out, "Mr. Jose is calling an important meeting, he wants everyone there." Lucy looked up and saw a serious looking girl with strange blue curls in her hair. The men grunted and slapped Lucy's ass before leaving.

The blue hair girl asked, "Are you alright?"

Lucy nodded, "Thank you, you came at the right time. Who are you?"

"I'm Juvia. Jose sent me to watch over you." She tried helping Lucy to fix her up, but her shirt was no longer usable. Lucy was left wearing only a bra.

Lucy asked Juvia about why she was in a gang. Juvia told Lucy, that her friend Gajeel and her grew up in the same orphanage. They both went to the same community college*. Juvia wanted to transfer to Magnolia University and Gajeel wanted to get a simple degree and start working. They both needed Money and Jose promised that he would pay them. While Juvia and Gajeel were getting paid, they didn't want to be in the gang anymore. However Jose threatened the both of them and they couldn't leave.

Lucy wanted to help Juvia so she asked her if she did anything illegal. Juvia shook her head and said that both Gajeel and her got simple jobs like surveilling and collecting money. Juvia suddenly burst into tears and told Lucy that Jose beat Gajeel up for not noticing that Levy was also there at the convenience store.

Lucy suddenly had an epiphany, "Does Gajeel have a pierced eyebrows?" This must be the man who let Levy run away. Juvia nodded and Lucy was determined to help the both of them. "Do you know how to escape? I promise I will help you both."

Juvia somehow felt like she could trust Lucy, so they both silently walked along the walls. Since Jose was holding a meeting, the building wasn't heavily guarded. Juvia lead Lucy to Gajeel who was bloodily beaten up in a corner of the room. Juvia tried to wake him up silently, Gajeel opened his eyes and saw Lucy and Juvia. Staring at Lucy's unclothed upper half, he blushed "What the?"

Juvia spoke, "Gajeel we don't have much time, questions later." Gajeel put on arm around Lucy and another one around Juvia and they both helped him walk. They did not relax until they got far away from the building. They found an alley and stopped there. Gajeel who was more awake, took off his bloody shirt and gave it to Lucy. Lucy was grateful, but felt bad for Gajeel because she could now clearly see his wounds.

They continued to walk towards Lucy's house, it was really late at night and there was nobody around. On the way there, they ran into Gray and Loke. Apparently Natsu was worried that Lucy was not answering her phone and she wasn't home and called both Gray and Loke.

Loke staring at Lucy's bloody shirt and Gajeel's beaten up body was confused and relieved at the same time. "Lucy, what happened?"

"Not now, Loke. Help us carry him to my apartment." With Gray and Loke carrying Gajeel, they were able to move faster. Once they reached Lucy's apartment, Lucy took out her first aid kit and started tending to Gajeel's wounds.

She heard Natsu entering through her door, "Lucy, where have you been? You haven't been answering your phone and it's late?" he rambled and chastised her.

She snapped at him, "Sorry Natsu, I was a little busy being kidnapped. You are not the first thing on my mind." The whole room suddenly became She was tired, angry, and still worried about Levy who they had to leave behind. Natsu finally looked at her appearance and saw the wound on her face and bloody t-shirt.

Natsu got really angry, "Who did this to you?"

Lucy sighed and told them the entire story. About Levy's experience at the convenience store, them being kidnapped, Jose's plan, and Juvia and Gajeel's escape. She finished fixing up Gajeel's wounds.

After her story Loke asked, "What do you plan on doing now?"

She told them her plan. "Juvia and I will go to the police station and tell them where the Phantom headquarters is. Hopefully they will be able to rescue Levy." Obviously the five of them could not overtake a whole gang of fighters with weapons.

Juvia and Lucy went to the police station with Gray and Natsu, who would not let them go by themselves. The police had just received the hostage video from Jose, demanding that they let the men go and a huge sum of money.

Wanting to apprehend the gang and rescue Levy at the same time, the police listened to both Lucy and Juvia. A huge group of officers went to the gang headquarters by following the instructions Juvia told them on an ear piece. The police chief allowed them to watch the apprehension in the video room. The officers who went to had a video camera strapped on their bodies, so they could watch what was going on.

Juvia told them the best ways for them to sneak in without getting caught. The gang was surprised and overwhelmed with the sudden appearance of the police. They were some gun shots fired, but luckily only one officer was hurt. They were able to find Levy and Jose and take down the gang.

Levy was taken to the hospital as she was a little scratched up and unconscious. The rest of the gang (around 40 members) was taken to the police station. Jose saw Lucy first and escaped the officer who was holding him. "You bitch, you did this." He angrily swung his fist towards her. Juvia, who was near her, stood in front of Lucy and Jose struck her stomach and Juvia fell down. Gray punched Jose and he was caught by the officers.

Gray bent down to help Juvia up. "Are you okay?" he asked. Juvia saw how Gray came to her rescue and was smitten immediately. She fainted in his arms, "Hey, wake up." Gray said in a panic. Juvia opened her eyes and smiled goofily before fainting again.

Natsu, who had barely said a word this entire night, had a chance to think. He was so worried for Lucy and he didn't know what he would do if something had happened to her. He saw how brave and strong Lucy was this entire night. He saw how caring and gentle she was when she tended to Gajeel's wounds. He felt her compassion as she stood by Juvia's side the whole time. Lucy knew Juvia for less than few hours, but was still willing to help her. He thought about the all their other memories together and came to a conclusion.

He loved her.

* * *

*Community College: A smaller scale school compared to a University. Most people study there for a few years, before transferring other bigger colleges of University.

AN: I would have liked to have written about a "war" between Fairy Tail and the Phantom Gang, but Lucy is in college not some fight club. Fairy Tail is supposed to be a volunteer club. So no more gang or dangerous business after Phantom. Also yes, Natsu figured out his feelings now.


	11. Chapter 11

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 11**

The police were ecstatic that they took down the Phantom Guild and they gave Juvia a monetary reward. They also wanted to take a picture of both Lucy and Juvia for the newspaper, but Lucy declined. She didn't want her father to find out about this incident. Juvia also declined, because she felt like she didn't deserve it.

Gajeel stayed for two nights at Lucy's place for recovery, much to Natsu's chagrin. Gajeel was thankful for Lucy's help to him and Juvia.

"How is that little blue hair girl?" asked Gajeel.

Lucy smirked, "She is our age, you know?" She almost laughed at Gajeel's shocked expression. "She's in the hospital right now."

Gajeel felt a little responsible for what happened with Levy "Still?"

"Yeah, I'm going to visit her today, do you want to join me?" Lucy asked and Gajeel nodded.

 _Magnolia Hospital_

Levy had her wrist wrapped in a cast and had a few bandages around her head from her concussion. Other than those injuries, she was fine and just a bit shaken up. Being in the hospital bed gave her more time to read her books and she had no problem with that.

She was too engrossed in her bed, that she didn't notice two people walking into the room.

"Jeez Levy, is the book more important than your friend?" huffed Lucy jokingly.

Levy looked up and smiled, "Lucy!" She gave the Lucy a hug. She then saw Gajeel and whispered a shy "Hello." She was still wary towards the gang members, even though Gajeel didn't do anything to her.

"Gi, hi. Who knew the shrimp was a college student?" Gajeel cackled.

Levy huffed up, "Don't call me a shrimp!" Her height was a sensitive issue to her. Lucy laughed at the two of them. She gave them some privacy, Gajeel told her that he wanted to speak to Levy alone.

After Lucy left, Gajeel apologized that Levy got hurt. He knew he didn't directly hurt her, but he still felt guilty. Levy was overwhelmed by his honest apology and she suggested that they could be friends. Gajeel was taken a back, he did not have many friends except for Juvia, but he saw Levy's smiling face and mumbled out an "okay".

 _Ending of the Second Semester_

The last club meeting of the year was a farewell party to Laxus and Mirajane as they were both graduating. Many of the male club members were devastated that beauty Mirajane was leaving. In Laxus's last speech, he made Nab the new president. While Nab didn't go on any jobs himself, he ended up helping Mirajane a lot. So Nab had experience with the club's finances and regulations. Lisanna was vice president and she learnt from Mirajane as well.

The club members clapped to welcome the new officers of Fairy Tail. Laxus hushed everyone up, "Alright I have one last announcement." He turned to Mirajane and got on one knee. Everyone went silent and watched the pair intensely. "Mira, I never thought I would find someone in my life who understand me. You are a the most kind, beautiful, and wonderful woman I have ever known and I love you. Will you be my wife?"

Lucy was stunned, she was not even aware that the pair were dating. It looks like many of the club members didn't know as well. She grabbed Natsu's hand without realizing it while waiting for Mirajane's answer. Natsu looked at her and felt his heart beat faster.

Mirajane looked at Laxus for a few seconds and nodded yes. The whole room burst into happiness and clapping. Makarov had tears streaming down his face looking at his grandson and was proud of him. Laxus put the ring on Mirajane's finger and kissed her.

Erza walked up to them and stuttered out a "Congratulations." She felt awkward and a little bit jealous, but Mirajane was her friend.

Elfman and Lisanna were excited for their sister. Mirajane did so much for her younger siblings and everyone else, she deserved some happiness for herself. Freed was little bummed out, he did have a little crush on Laxus. Bickslow and Evergreen were just shocked that Laxus kept his dating life a secret.

Lucy was so happy for Mirajane that she didn't realize that she was still holding Natsu's hand in a tight grip.

As much as Natsu wanted to confess to Lucy, he knew that she still thought of him as a best friend. He would just have to try to make Lucy like him back.

 _Heartfillia Estate_

Jude was conflicted, he needed to leave town over the summer for some business trips, but that would mean that Lucy would be alone. He thought about it some more and he came up with an idea. He would take Lucy with him and she could get some experience in the business world.

Lucy was in her apartment packing to go back home for the summer and her phone rang. "Hello?" she answered without checking the caller ID.

"Ah, Lucy dear. Is this a good time to talk?" asked Jude.

Lucy recognized her father's voice, "Yes father, I can talk right now."

Jude explained his idea to bring Lucy along on the business trips. Lucy thought about and she said yes, it was time for her to get a taste of the business life.

 _First Business Meeting_

Lucy straightened her pencil skirt and blouse. She was here just to merely observe the discussion between the client and her father. The current client was interested in holding a wedding at one of the hotels that her father managed.

The car stopped at the Heartfillia Hotel, Lucy and Jude both got out. The found a chubby, middle aged man and a young woman sitting at one of the couches. "Hello, I'm Jude Heartfillia, welcome to the Heartfillia hotel."

The other man said, "Hello, I'm Henry Lobster, this is my daughter Michelle."

Jude nodded, "You must be the bride to be, let me show you both the hotel." Jude showed them the rooms, fountains, pool, lobby, and gardens. Lucy followed and watched how her father talked about pricing, logistics, and services while giving them the tour. She observed how her father answered any questions with confidence and honesty.

Lucy saw that Michelle looked a little worried, when their fathers were talking, she took that chance to go talk to Michelle. "Hi, Michelle right? I'm Lucy, did you have any concerns?" she asked.

Michelle told her about the things she had dreamed about having in her wedding. Lucy thought about how they could make it feasible and she had an idea. She told Michelle about the idea and was explaining how the hotel could help with the wedding. At this point Henry and Jude stopped talking and was listening to Lucy.

After Lucy talked, Henry and Michelle had a private discussion. After they came back Henry told Jude, "We love the hotel and we would be delighted to hold the wedding here." Jude and Henry shook hands and departed.

In the car, Jude turned around and said, "Good work Lucy." At her confused expression he continued on, "While the father is the one paying for the wedding, the actual client is the daughter. As it is her wedding, she also needs to be satisfied. You had an idea and made her more confident in the hotel. Henry Lobster is a very important man and having the wedding at our hotel, gives it a better reputation."

Lucy listened to her father and understood what he said. She could see that her father really was invested in his business and he liked his job. While Lucy did enjoy business, she didn't consider it a passion like Jude did. She hoped that one day, she can find that passion that her mother and father both had in the company.

 _Beach_

For the next couple of weeks, she had followed her father to various business meetings and clients. One day she had requested a break from her father to have a relaxation day. Jude allowed it immediately knowing how tired she must have been.

She decided to go to the beach for the day. Wearing a white bikini with a hibiscus flower, she lay down on a beach towel. Suddenly felt the sun being blocked, she opened her eyes and saw a familiar brunette with a beer in her hands.

Lucy gasped, "Cana, what are you doing here?" She got up and gave her friend a hug.

"This is my pop's hometown, we are visiting for a few days." Cana explained, pointing at Gildarts in the distance flirting with some women.

Cana and Lucy spent the rest of the day together. They went into the water and Cana grabbed Lucy's breasts giving the boys watching a major nose bleed. After a while, they went to eat lunch together and have some ice cream. Before Lucy left, Cana introduced her to Gildarts.

Overall, Lucy had a relaxing day and was feeling refreshed.

 _Towards the end of Summer_

Jude and Lucy were on their way to the last business meeting before they went back home. "I've been interested with making a partnership with the Zilconis company. I have never met them before, but this deal is very important to me." Lucy nodded.

They met two men, James Zilconis and his son Derek. Lucy once again was just observing and kept a distance between her father and the other men. Derek noticed Lucy's beauty and thought that she was a secretary. He slowed his walk and introduced himself to her. "Hi, I'm Derek."

She shook his hand and smiled, "I'm Lucy." She noticed him looking up and down on her body.

Derek pulled her close and grabbed her hips, "How about dinner tonight?" he asked greasily.

Lucy wanted to smack him, but this deal was important to her father. She politely responded, "No, thank you." She got out of his grip and continued walking. Her father and James was were still walking and talking, so she tried to catch up with them as gracefully as she could. She didn't notice that Capricorn was watching from a far.

They all walked to the garden to have lunch break. James and Jude were still talking and Derek took that time to pull Lucy to a secluded area. Derek could not stop himself, "You must be great in bed with that ass and body."

Lucy begged, "Please stop. I don't want this."

"Oh, I promise this will be pleasurable." He had up against a wall with both his hands surrounding her so she could not escape. His hand went to grab her skirt, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Sir, your father requests your presence." Capricorn said politely. Derek was irritated and left Lucy alone.

"Miss Lucy, are you alright?" Lucy turned her back and she let out a few tears. She wondered if her father knew about this, would he choose the business deal over her? Capricorn gave her a tissues and she fixed up her face.

She pretended to smile, "I'm alright Capricorn, this deal is important to father. Let's not ruin it." Capricorn hesitated, but she was his mistress and so he listened to her.

After lunch, the group settled in an office room to complete the business transaction. Jude told Lucy to bring them some water, as she walked out of the room Derek slapped her on the ass discreetly. However, Jude saw what Derek did and stormed over. He stood in front of Lucy, "What the hell you think you're doing?"

Derek was not ashamed of his actions at all, "Oh c'mon Jude, is your secretary such a good fuck that you can't share her?" Lucy's eyes widened, did Derek think that she was a secretary and that her father and her were…

"Lucy's is my daughter you bastard, you better watch your tongue and hands." Jude was beyond angry. Derek was shocked, how could this average looking man produce such a gorgeous creature?

Jude turned around and said, "I apologize James, but I refuse to work with your company. Thank you for your time." He wrapped his arms around Lucy and walked out of the room.

Lucy began, "Father, the deal…?"

Jude, who was still angry said, "Lucy go to the car. I will be there in a few minutes."

She nodded and left, "Oh no, was he mad that she ruined the business deal?" she thought. Lucy sat in the car waiting for Jude. He came in ten minutes later without saying anything. When the car started Lucy started, "I'm sorry father, I know how much this deal meant to you."

Jude looked incredulous, "Lucy, I'm not mad about the business deal, I'm mad about the fact that you didn't tell me that Derek harassed and touched you earlier. I just heard about it from Capricorn. Why didn't you tell me?"

Lucy was ashamed, "I didn't want to cause any trouble between Mr. Zilconis and you. Before you mentioned how the deal was important to you."

Jude sighed, "Lucy you are much more important to me, than any business deal." Lucy broke down and started crying on her father's shoulder. Her father cared about her and she finally realized how much.

After she calmed down, "Papa, but Mr. Zilconis seems like a decent person. You still could have done the deal with him, regardless of Derek."

Jude pondered, "Sure I could have, but one day the company will likely be passed on to his son and I would not want that filth associated with the Heartfillia name." Lucy nodded in understanding.

He sighed a wrapped his arm around his daughter. "Lucy let me tell you a story about a time before you were born. I once worked with this man and the company grew bigger with him. We had gotten so close we became best friends. One day your mother and him were left alone together talking about some blueprints. He touched her intimately and Layla shut him down. However, he didn't stop trying to touch her and Layla didn't tell me because she knew that he was essential to the company. I caught him one day and I banished him immediately. The company did suffer some huge losses, but I refuse to forgive him."

Lucy listened to the story intensively and Jude continued on, "I hate to say this, but some business men are not good people and I have encountered many such people. I am proud to say that the Heartfillia company do not work with people like that." Lucy was astonished and was pleased that her father built such an honest company.

She snuggled into his arm and dozed off. Jude looked at his daughter sleeping on his arm and again wished that he had spent more time with her as a child.

* * *

AN: Yes I do ship Mira and Laxus together. I was considering making Erza president, but I would feel like she wouldn't want to be president. Not to mention she might scare the new club members away. Michelle Lobster is a character from the anime. Zilconis is the dragon who stripped clothes of his opponents. Next chapter Natsu is going to try to woo Lucy, but will he be successful?


	12. Chapter 12

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 12**

Summer had ended and Lucy was staring her third year. Natsu was hanging around Lucy all the time. He would walk with her to classes, study in the library, take jobs for Fairy Tail, and climb into her house often. Lucy was getting a little irritated and even though Natsu was being a nice friend, she just wanted some space.

On Tuesday, Lucy was working at her part time job at the 8-Island restaurant. She took a later shift that to cover for another coworker. It had been a busy dinner service and she was starting to clean up.

"Hey, Luce!" she heard a familiar voice saying. Lucy inwardly groaned, what was he doing here? She turned around and the pink haired boy was waving and grinning widely.

"Hi Natsu, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked while wiping down a table.

"I was in the area and I thought maybe I could walk you home, cause it's getting late." Natsu casually said while pulling out a chair.

Lucy was touched that he cared so much about her and her irritation went away.

Then Natsu had to go open his mouth, "You guys are looking for another waiter? I saw the sign outside. Maybe I should apply for the job?"

Lucy was horrified, if Natsu works at the same place as her she would be spending even more time with him. "Oh, I don't think that's a good idea." she whispered.

"What? I couldn't hear you" Natsu said while looking around the restaurant.

She grabbed his hand and took him to the back of the restaurant. Taking a deep breath she gently said, "Natsu, I don't want you to work here."

"Why not? I think it would be fun to work together." Natsu responded.

"Oh I have no doubt it would be fun, but I just don't think it's a good idea."

Natsu was confused, "Why don't you think it's a good idea? We could spend time together working at the restaurant."

Lucy could not take it anymore, "That's exactly why! You already spend so much time with me, whether it be at school, home, or Fairy Tail. If you work with me, that's another few hours a week with you. I need some space and privacy Natsu!" she panted from her rant.

Natsu was hurt, "Oh I see. Well I be sure to leave you alone from now on." He left her and walked away.

Lucy felt guilty, she knew that she hurt Natsu's feelings, but she was pent up from her frustration. She finished cleaning up the restaurant and walked back home, still feeling sorry about what she said to him.

Natsu watched Lucy walking from a distance. It was getting late and no matter how much she hurt his feelings, he wanted her to get home safe. He thought hard about what she said to him and realized that she was right. He was spending a lot of time with her, but he only did it so she would like him back. Instead she became irritated and annoyed. He decided he would leave her alone.

For the next few weeks, Lucy felt much freer, she was able to talk to other classmates in her classes. She was able to walk around her apartment without being rudely interrupted by Natsu. Overall she felt much more freedom, but she felt like there was something missing. She could not see Happy anymore, because Natsu used bring him up. She would see Natsu around, but he never said anything to her. She hated to admit it but she missed him.

On a Friday night, she decided to have a girl's night. She invited Juvia, Levy, Erza, and Cana over to her apartment. She looked around to make sure everything was clean and locked the window just in case Natsu decided to barge it, even though the chance of that happening was low.

One by one the girls got into Lucy's apartment. They ate food and ice cream and then they all huddled on the bed to share things about their lives.

Erza and Jellal were finally dating. Erza was focusing on finishing her last year of college, while Jellal quit the drug dealing business and was looking for another job.

Levy was stating to have a little crush on Gajeel. He finished his community college degree and was working at an auto repair shop, near the public library. Levy and Gajeel had crossed paths many times and talked a lot.

Cana was also in her last year year of college, like Erza and she was focusing on get a bar license. She wanted to open a bar/ restaurant in a few years and was concentrating on all the details. Cana had a few flings here and there, but she was not interested in dating.

Juvia's little infatuation with Gray, had recently turned into a full blown crush. Juvia transferred into Magnolia University this year and she got to see Gray around campus. She told the girls very clearly that Gray was off limits.

Lucy told them about her fight with Natsu and how they had been avoiding each other. Juvia suggested that Natsu liked Lucy. Lucy was stunned for a moment and shot that idea down. Natsu and her were best friends, there would be no way that he liked her. The girls then asked her if she had any crushes, but she honestly told them no. Since her father said that he would choose Lucy's partner, she didn't want to be in a serious relationship beforehand.

After listening to the girl's stories about their love lives, she couldn't help but feel jealous. They were lucky to be able to fall in love and date. Maybe she should be like Cana and just have some flings.

 _Sunday Night_

Lucy sat in her bathtub, determined on talking to Natsu that night. After taking a long bath, she wore comfortable pajamas and dried her hair. She filled up her backpack with bunch of snacks and opened the window. She looked around and tried to mentally plan a route to Natsu's window. She knew this was a bad idea, but she wanted to show him how much he meant to her.

Closing her eyes, she sent a quick prayer to the heavens. When she opened her eyes, she stuck a foot out and began climbing down. It took her ten minutes to get to Natsu's window, but it was locked! She looked inside hoping that he was in there and she saw him playing a video game on the TV. Feeling her grip slipping, she frantically knocked on the window.

Natsu was engrossed in his game, but the noise was getting louder and louder. Looking at the window, he saw a terrified Lucy behind it. Natsu immediately got up and opened the window. She was about to fall off, but he caught her and pulled in her roughly. Lucy ended up falling on top of Natsu.

Natsu helped her up, "Are you stupid? You almost fell!" he yelled at her. Lucy simply just rushed forward and gave him a big hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Natsu stayed quiet and hugged her back.

After a few minutes, Lucy took out the snacks from her bag and gave they to Natsu. They sat on the ground eating and talking about random things. Natsu left to bring them water and Lucy went to pet Happy. When Happy climbed on to her leg, she felt a sharp sting. Rolling up her pajama pants, she was a big purple bruise on her calf. Natsu came back at that moment.

"What happened to your leg?" he rushed over to her side.

"Nothing Natsu, I must have hurt it on the climb down." Lucy said. Natsu went back to the kitchen and brought out some bandages. He took her leg gently in his hands and cleaned up the wound. Lucy stared at him and thought, "He is so wonderful to me."

After her leg was bandaged, Lucy and Natsu had a serious talk about boundaries on their friendship. They were able to come with a compromise that worked out for the two of them and they both fell asleep on Natsu's floor.

 _Few Weeks Later_

Natsu and Lucy were in their Marketing class one day talking before the professor came.

"I was planning on going to the park with Happy today evening, do you want to join?" asked Natsu.

Lucy smiled and replied, "Sure."

The Professor had an announcement. "Hello class, we have foreign exchange student who will be sitting in our class today. Please make him feel welcome."

A handsome man stood in front of the classroom. "Hello, my name is Jack." Lucy detected an French accent in his voice.

They had a group activity in the class and they were in groups of ten. Jack joined Natsu and Lucy's group. Their leader was talking fast and explaining the rules. Lucy could tell that Jack felt lost, so she translated the instructions in French to him. French was one of the languages she had to learn as a child, so she was quite good at it.

Jack was transfixed by the stranger, she spoke very clearly to him to make sure he understood. Natsu was just staring at the beautiful language, coming out of her alluring, soft lips.

After class, Jack gave his number to Lucy. He explained that he was leaving the next day and if she was interested in going on a date, she should call that number. The other girls in the class saw the exchange and told her that she should go. She said she would think about it and gave him a soft smile.

Natsu was pissed and left the classroom in a huff. He couldn't believe that she would go on a date with that sissy guy!

Lucy was in her room getting ready, she wore a flowy blue dress and left her hair in curls. She was about to call the number, but she suddenly remembered that Natsu had invited her to the park earlier. Looking at the time, she grabbed her bag and started running to the park.

When she got there, she spotted the unmistakable pink hair and ran towards him. Her hair was now a mess and her dress was all wrinkled. She stopped in front of Natsu, panting heavily.

Natsu was surprised to see Lucy there, but then noticed her disheveled appearance. "What happened to you?" he demanded.

"Huh?" she found a leaf in her hair, how embarrassing. "I was just running to get here."

Natsu was giddy inside, "What about your date?" he asked nonchalantly, trying to play it cool.

"I made a promise that I would come to the park and I never break my promises." Lucy said.

Natsu grinned and set up the picnic he brought. To be honest, he thought Lucy wouldn't show up, so he only packed enough food for himself. Instead he split his food with Lucy and they both ate on the blanket he brought. Lucy had Happy on her lap and leaning against the tree. Natsu picked up a flower and put it in her hair. Lucy blushed and squeezed Happy closer.

 _End of November_

It was an extremely depressing day, the rain wouldn't stop pouring and there several sightings lightning. Lucy was sitting on the couch enjoying a cup of cocoa and watching some TV.

She heard a sudden knock at the door, she got up and looked through the peephole. It was Juvia looking completely soaked. Lucy opened the door to let her in, Juvia looked like she was getting sick. Lucy put her in the bathtub full of warm water and let the blunette soak in there for a bit.

She gave Juvia some fresh clothes and some warm soup. "Want to tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"Juvia saw Gray on a date with another girl." Juvia wept and sobbed.

Lucy grimaced, she knew that Gray was oblivious to Juvia's feelings and he was quite frankly a little bit weirded out by her. "Er, Juvia did you ever tell him about your feelings?"

Juvia sniffed, "No, Juvia has not told Gray about her love."

Lucy nodded, "Okay good. Listen Juvia I will try my best to help you, but you must listen to what I say."

Juvia perked up, "Love rival will help Juvia win Gray's heart?"

Lucy nodded, already regretting her decision to help Juvia.

* * *

AN: Aww, Lucy is starting to notice Natsu a little bit. Next chapter will be Lucy attempting to get Juvia and Gray together. Please review what you think of the story so far.


	13. Chapter 13

_I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 13**

Since they had finals coming up in December, Juvia and Lucy decided to focus on school. As Juvia was on a scholarship, her grades could not suffer.

After their winter break, Juvia and Lucy met up to talk to discuss a game plan. They went to the mall and got Juvia a haircut. Lucy told Juvia to stop following Gray around, because it would creep him out.

Lucy suggested that Juvia ask Gray on a date. They rehearsed and practiced Juvia asking out Gray. Juvia had all the right intentions but sometimes she would go overboard.

The next day, Lucy and Juvia hid behind a tree waiting for Gray to come out of his class. When they spotted him, Lucy pushed Juvia towards him.

Juvia shyly approached Gray and asked him out on a date. Lucy watched from the tree and saw him thinking about it and then he nodded. After he left Juvia walked back slowly recovering from his answer.

When she got to Lucy she exclaimed, "He said yes to Juvia! Now what do I do? What do I wear? Where do we go?" Juvia was panicking.

"Juvia calm down." Lucy said as she was also thinking about their next step. "Juvia do you know what Gray's favorite sport is?"

"Gray likes ice hockey." Juvia said confidently. Lucy chuckled, Juvia really knew a lot about Gray.

Lucy decided to use the emergency credit card her dad gave to buy the best seats at the next hockey game. She gifted them to Juvia and told her to be herself. Juvia shouldn't have to pretend and she should be comfortable around Gray.

Juvia thanked Lucy and they both spent the next hour going through Juvia's closet trying to find the perfect date outfit. After getting Juvia ready, Lucy went to go see Levy and wished Juvia a good luck (Juvia also lives in Fairy Hills like Levy and Erza).

When Gray picked up Juvia he was pleasantly suprised to see her dressed nicely. He was even more surprised to see that they would be going to the hockey game with the best seats.

After buying food and drinks, they headed down to their seats. Juvia was also excited as she never been to a hockey game before. Gray was patient and explained the rules of the games to her. Juvia found herself immersed in the game and cheering when the home team played well.

Gray found that he liked Juvia's smile and her personality. She shyly would tell him that he was stripping and he found himself embarrassed and tried his best to keep his clothes on. As the game progressed into a tie, he ended up holding Juvia's hand in anticipation. Both of them didn't realize they were holding hands, as they were focused completely on the game.

When the home team won the overtime, Gray cheered with joy and turned around towards Juvia. Seeing her happy face and with him being in euphoria, he bent down and kissed her.

A few moments later, he realized what he was doing and pulled away. They both looked at each other and turned red. The walk to the bus stop was awkward and Gray was still holding Juvia's hand. Gray asked if she wanted to get ice cream and Juvia said yes. They talked and the mood became better while eating ice cream.

Gray walked Juvia back to Fairy Hills, when they got there Juvia turned around. "Um, Gray I was wondering if you would want to go another date with me another time?" she shyly asked.

He was taken aback, he normally was a one date type of guy. However he found himself drawn to her and he said, "sure." Juvia hugged him in happiness, gave him a peck on the cheek, and went inside. He stood outside the house holding his fingers to his cheek for a few minutes and he left.

As Lucy was staying over at Levy's room, Juvia came and filled them both in with the details of the date. Juvia asked Lucy what she should do next and Lucy refused to answer.

"Juvia, I have helped you so far, but now you need to make your own decisions. If you don't make your own choices, the relationship will feel fake." Lucy said.

Juvia nodded and thanked Lucy for her help. She would try her best to win Gray's love.

 _March_

Natsu's birthday was coming up and Lucy was feeling confused. She wanted to do something special, but Natsu told her that he would "handle it". She had no idea what he was thinking.

On Saturday it was Natsu's birthday and Lucy was supposed be ready by 8 in the morning. Natsu rang the bell to her apartment for the first time ever. Lucy opened the door and he came in.

"Happy Birthday!" Lucy gave him a hug.

"Thanks Luce. Ready for a day of fun today?" asked Natsu, he went to get an apple from her kitchen.

"Yep. What are we doing today?"

"It's a surprise."

"Isn't today your birthday? Why are you surprising me?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Cause I want to." Natsu simply answered and laughed.

Lucy and Natsu stepped out of the apartment and got into a taxi. They stopped in front of an amusement park. The last time Lucy been to an amusement park was when her mom was alive, so she was excited.

Natsu dragged her to the rollercoasters, she was a little hesitant, but Natsu said she had to do whatever he asked that day. She ended up loving the roller coasters and they went on them multiple times.

Natsu bought them cotton candy and they went to watch a magic show. Lucy was reminded of the time Natsu did his tricks for Romeo's birthday party.

They went to booths where people could play games for prizes. Natsu was surprisingly bad at most of the games. He pouted when he lost, making Lucy laugh. Lucy dabbled in archery for a few months with Sagittarius, her archery teacher. She won a big dragon from the archery game and gave it to Natsu. He was even more determined to win something for her. The person at the one of booths felt pity for Natsu and helped him win (only Lucy noticed this). Natsu was so happy to win, Lucy didn't want to rain on his parade. He got Lucy a weird white animal with a cone shaped nose. She loved it and named it Plue.

Lucy went to the restroom and when she came out, she saw a couple of girls flirting with Natsu. She felt an odd sensation in her stomach for some reason. When Natsu saw her, he immediately left the other girls alone and came up to her. Lucy felt some weird sense of satisfaction when the other girls looked at her with jealousy.

It was getting dark and they had one thing left to do. The ferris wheel. They both got on and when they reached the top, the fireworks started.

"Isn't it so beautiful?" asked Lucy looking at the night sky.

"Yeah, so beautiful." Natsu said staring solely at Lucy. It was hurting him that he could not express his feelings to her.

 _Few Days Later_

Levy and Lucy were hanging out at the mall enjoying a shopping day. Suddenly a tall man approached them and introduced himself as Dan Straight.

He took Lucy's hand and kissed it, "Oh fair maiden, will you tell me your name?"

Lucy was a little weirded out, so she asked "Um, why?" and tried pulling her hand away.

"Because I have fallen for you. With your voice, eyes, mouth, hair, chest, waist, legs!" He started spelling out L-O-V-E with his entire body.

Levy and Lucy were creeped out, so they snuck away while he was distracted. They decided to immediately leave the mall. They spent the rest of the day at a park.

When they reached Fairy Hills, Dan Straight appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh my god, how did he find us here?" asked Levy. She was hoping that Erza was home, so she could help them. Dan pranced over to Lucy.

"Lucy my darling I have found you." He tried to hug her, but she dodged out of the way.

"How did you find out my name?" she asked.

Dan was starting to cross personal boundaries and tried to get closer to Lucy. Levy tried to block Dan, but he was so much taller than Levy, so he passed her easily.

When Dan got closer to Lucy, she used one of the kicks that Capricorn taught to her. He clutched his knee in pain. He was starting to get irritated and forcefully tried to grab her. Before he could touch Lucy, another hand came out and grabbed his.

"Gajeel!" cried Levy in happiness. Lucy looked up and Gajeel was holding Dan's hand in a menacing manner.

"You two know this guy?" Gajeel gruffly asked.

"No, he just followed us here." Levy replied. Lucy nodded.

"Get lost." Gajeel told Dan.

"No, Lucy is my one true love." Dan said with hearts in his eyes.

At this point Gajeel was wondering how to get rid of him, he could either beat him up or… "Lucy is my girl." he bluntly said and wrapped his muscled arm around Lucy. She turned red from blushing. Levy looked at him in awe, "Gajeel is so manly." she gushed.

Dan cried, "How could fate be so cruel?" he cried and walked away depressed.

After Dan left, Gajeel let Lucy go. "Who the fuck was that guy?"

Levy explained the story and Lucy thanked him. She started to head home. Gajeel wanted to talk to Levy, but he couldn't let Lucy walk home alone. He said goodnight to Levy and followed Lucy home.

"You don't have to walk me home." Lucy said. "I know you wanted to talk to Levy tonight."

"Are you stupid? That Dan guy might be lurking around." Gajeel huffed looking embarrassed, "I don't need to talk to the Shrimp."

Lucy giggled, "Oh yeah? Why were you at her place then? Do you like her?" she interrogated.

Gajeel looked the other way, "No…". Lucy was not convinced, but she decided to leave the topic alone.

Lucy and Gajeel talked for the rest of the way. He told her about his job at the auto repair shop and how he is trying to save up for a nice motorcycle.

They reached Lucy's apartment and she invited him inside for some dinner. Gajeel, never one to decline free food, accepted. She also told Gajeel not to tell Natsu about Dan, knowing that he would freak out.

Natsu climbed through the window as expected and became jealous immediately. "What the hell are you doing here, metal boy?"

Gajeel grinned wickedly, "Bunny girl invited me for dinner, gi hi." He showed Natsu his finished plate.

"Oh hey, Natsu." Lucy walked back into the kitchen. "Gajeel, it's getting late. Do you want to crash on the couch?"

"Lucy, you can't just offer your couch to strangers." Natsu claimed.

"Natsu, Gajeel is not a stranger!" Lucy chastised Natsu for his rudeness.

"Gi hi, she's right. We have certainly gotten acquainted this evening. Maybe we could share a bed instead?" Gajeel wiggled his eyebrows. Lucy blushed, remembering the Dan incident.

Natsu was about to lose his mind at what Gajeel was implying. Lucy went to calm him down.

Gajeel had enough of his fun, "As much as I would love to stay, I need to get back to my place. Thanks for dinner." He left the apartment.

Lucy then offered some leftovers to Natsu. He ate them while thinking, "I need to make my move soon, before some steals her."

 _April_

Lucy and Gray were hanging out at a café. They both got their coffees and began to drink it. She looked up and was watching the news on the TV. She suddenly froze and saw the headline, "Business Mogul Jude Heartfilia in a car crash. Taken to hospital, status unknown." Her heart stopped and the mug slipped out of her hands.

* * *

AN: I don't know the exact rules of ice hockey, I think they go into overtime if it ends up in a tie. The Ferris wheel part was such a cliché moment lol. Lucy does not "love" Natsu yet, but she has some strong feelings. Dan Straight is a character from the anime. This is the first chapter that I have ended with a cliffhanger, so that's new for me.


	14. Chapter 14

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 14**

 _"_ _Business Mogul Jude Heartfilia in a car crash. Taken to hospital, status unknown." Her heart stopped and the mug slipped out of her hands._

"Lucy…Lucy… Lucy?" she felt her vision come back into focus and saw that Gray was standing in front of her. "Are you alright?" asked Gray.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." The clatter of the broken mug had gathered attention from the other patrons at the café. She quickly grabbed her purse and slapped down a wad of cash on their table, she hoped it would cover the cost of the mug.

Lucy just ran out of the café, not completely sure where she was going. She decided to call Loke, maybe he would have some clear answers.

"Hello, princess." Loke answered suavely after a few rings.

"Do you know what happened to my father?" she quickly asked, getting to the point.

"No, I just came out of a meeting, what happened?"

"I don't have time to explain, check the news." Lucy hung up, feeling more frantic.

She tried to call Capricorn, but he was not picking up. She immediately got into a cab to go to the train station. Sitting on the train, she put her phone on silent, not wanting to talk to anyone. She stared out the window for few hours, trying her best not to panic.

 _Back in Magnolia_

Gray helped the café employees pick up the broken pieces of the mug and then left. He was concerned about Lucy and decided to walk to her apartment to check in on her.

He reached the apartment and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He went down a floor and knocked on Natsu's apartment.

Natsu opened the door, "Frostbite, what are you doing here?"

Gray ignored the insult, "Did Lucy come back here? Do you know where she is?"

Natsu thought about it, "No I haven't seen her since yesterday. Why?"

"We were at the café, when she suddenly just left. She seemed to be distressed for some reason. I just wanted to check on her. I'm going to wait here till she gets back." Gray walked into the apartment and sat on Natsu's couch.

They played video games for some time while they waited for Lucy. When they heard the knock on the door, Natsu thought it was Lucy, so he opened without looking through the peephole. Instead he saw Loke.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Loke.

"I was looking for Lucy. She called me a while back and I was wondering if she was here." Loke sighed. He could already tell that she wasn't here, he saw the news regarding her father, she must have went home immediately. "I guess she isn't here, I will be going now." Loke was stopped from leaving by Natsu.

"What happened? Where is she?" Natsu asked. Gray was also standing next to him looking at Loke.

Loke thought about what to say without revealing too much, "She had a family emergency, so she must have went back to her hometown."

Natsu was not satisfied, "What is the emergency?"

Gray interrupted, "You're her cousin, you know what is going on right?"

Loke sighed, "You know I can't tell you. She wants to keep her family life private." He waved goodbye and left quickly not wanting to answer any questions.

Natsu was frustrated, "Why didn't Lucy trust him?" he wanted to know. He cares for her so much and is willing to do anything for her.

Gray could sense Natsu's irritation and said, "Don't worry dude, I'm sure she is fine."

Natsu calmed down and decided to distract himself with beer and videogames for the night.

 _Hospital_

Lucy reached the Love & Lucky Hospital in her hometown. She found out what floor her father was on and ran up the stairs. She saw the nurse sitting at the desk and ran up to her.

"Hi, which room is Jude Heartfilia in? I'm his daughter." Lucy panted out.

The nurse barely looked at her, "Yeah right, prove it."

Lucy only had her fake ID that said "Lucy Ashley" on it, so she couldn't show that to the nurse. "Please you have to believe me, I'm his daughter." Lucy begged, close to tears.

"Listen here, I've had reporters trying to enter for a while now. I can't just trust you." the nurse replied.

Lucy reached her breaking point and tears began to fall, "Can you at least tell me if he is okay?"

The nurse pitied her, "I'm sorry, I can't release classified information."

Tears clouded her eyes and she went to the nearest wall and leaned on it. "Miss Lucy?"

Lucy abruptly turned her head around. It was her driver Capricorn. She walked quickly towards him and saw that he had a bandage on his head and some scratches. "Capricorn! Thank goodness! Is my father okay?"

"He just finished surgery. Follow me, I will take you to him." Capricorn led the way to the VIP rooms.

Lucy entered the room and saw her father laying on bed, hooked up to many machines. His arm was in a cast and his head was bandaged. "Papa!" she cried out. He was not conscious at the moment.

Capricorn explained, "We were driving and a car hit us from behind and luckily I was able to drive into a ditch, instead in front of the incoming traffic."

Lucy nodded, not really listening as she was focused on her father, "Is he going to be okay?"

"We have to wait for the surgeon who operated on him to come tell us the details." Capricorn said.

At that moment a man walked in, "Hello I'm Doctor Jura, I'm the one who lead the operation on Jude Heartfilia."

Lucy shook his hand, "I'm his daughter, Lucy Heartfilia. Is everything okay?"

Jura nodded, "Your father suffered blunt trauma to the head by a huge piece of glass. I performed the surgery to remove the glass from his head. It was quite close to the brain, so we have to wait until he wakes up to make sure everything is okay/"

"When will he wake up?" asked Lucy.

"We had to put him under anesthesia, so he should be up after an hour. If not, I would be concerned." Lucy thanked the doctor and Jura left the room with Capricorn following him.

Lucy pulled up a chair and held her father's hand that wasn't injured. She stared at him and after a while fell asleep.

Jude slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "I must be in a hospital room." he thought. He tried to move his hand to rub his eyes, but look down and saw his daughter sleeping while holding his hand. He gently took his hand out of her grip and stroked her head lovingly.

Lucy woke up and saw her father looking down on her. "Papa" she hugged him and started sobbing, "I was so worried."

Jude hugged her back, "Don't worry, I'm still here."

"I don't want to lose you too, I have already lost Mama." Lucy continued to sob.

Her dad patted her back and rubbed his hand along her arm to calm her down. He suddenly remembered something, "Did you see the sign of the hospital name before you entered?"

Lucy remembered the huge "Love & Lucky" letter sign outside the hospital. She nodded and her dad continued the story. "Well on the day you were born, the "k" was not lighting up so we only saw "Lucy". We were stressed out and tired but when your mom saw that sign she decided that your name would Lucy."

Lucy never heard the story and started laughing, "What's with that?" she said giggling. Her father joined in with laughter of his own.

After an hour, Doctor Jura came by and checked up on Jude. His mental functions were normal and he would be released in a few days.

Lucy had spring break in a few days so she decided to miss her classes and stay back longer. She sent apology texts to Natsu, Loke, and Gray.

During spring break, her father was ready to come home, so Lucy and Capricorn helped him around the house. Lucy also helped him with any work related manners.

After her week, she was reluctant to leave her father, but she had to get back to school. After a tearful goodbye, she got onto the train to Magnolia.

When she got back to her apartment, she realized that everything in her fridge had gone bad so she needed to go to the grocery store. At the grocery store she decided that she would cook dinner for Natsu and make his favorite foods.

After cooking dinner, she packed all the food and headed downstairs and knocked on Natsu's door.

Natsu opened the door grumpy because he was woken up from a long nap, but when he saw Lucy's face his mood perked up. He quietly breathed out, "Lucy." He rushed to give her a hug and was relieved that she was doing okay.

Lucy knew that Natsu wanted to know what happened, so she told him as much as she could without giving away her true identity. She told him that her father got into an accident and that she was terrified that her dad would leave her like her mom.

Natsu understood and said, "Don't worry. No matter what I will always be there for you."

Lucy felt her heart skip a beat.

* * *

AN: I realize that naming a hospital _Love & Lucky_ is a little bit weird (people die at hospitals). However I wanted to include that story about how her parents choose her name. Many hospitals have VIP rooms for rich guests who want more luxury and privacy. Also I apologize for taking a long time to update this chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 15**

As the school year was coming to an end, Erza wanted to do something special for her last job at Fairy Tail. She decided that she was going to help out with the local theater in the their production of Romeo & Juliet. No one knew this but Erza secretly loves to read Shakespeare.

She forced Natsu, Gray, and Lucy to help out as well. Gray and Natsu helped out with building the sets. Lucy sewed the costumes and applied make-up for the performers. Erza got the part as Juliet's understudy*. While she looked gorgeous as the heroine, she was a stiff actor. She followed the actress who played Juliet religiously and learnt the lines from her.

The opening day and the other shows went well without any hitch. Natsu and Gray controlled the lights and the sets. Erza prayed that she would be able to perform once, but the actress who played Juliet was there every show.

On closing day, the director decided to put Erza as Juliet because he felt sorry for her and was a little bit scared of her. The redhead was nervous and almost stumbled through her lines. While she was not that good of an actress, she said all her lines perfectly and Lucy did such an excellent job with the makeup.

Erza was extremely overjoyed after the play, that she threw a party at Jellal's place (he was not in town at the moment). Many members from Fairy Tail came including newlyweds Mirajane and Laxus. Gajeel came with Levy (he finally asked her out lol) and he received a bunch of death stares from Jet and Droy.

Lucy was sitting on a couch talking to a few girls from the club and she felt a tap on her shoulder it was Bickslow. "May I talk to you for a second?" he asked. Lucy nodded and followed him to a secluded corner.

Bickslow looked nervous, "I was wondering if you would like to go on a date sometime?"

Lucy was shocked, she was not expecting this at all. Her and Bickslow barely talked before and he graduated last year. However he matured over the last year and he looked much more attractive now.

He wasn't a complete stranger and he seemed nice so Lucy nodded, "Sure."

"Wait really?" he looked almost disappointed.

Lucy was slightly offended, "Yes, is there a problem?" she raised her eyebrow.

Bickslow looked scared and gulped, "No no. I would love to take you on a date."

They agreed on a date and time and then parted ways.

On the day of a date, Lucy spent time getting dressed up. She had a weird feeling internally all day, but decided to ignore it.

She met Bickslow outside a nice restaurant and they went inside together. As soon as Lucy sat down, she felt guilty for some reason.

Bickslow was a nice enough guy, but the more that dinner progressed, she couldn't help but think about Natsu. "Why am I thinking about Natsu?" she thought. She kept thinking about Natsu's smile, his kindness, his rowdiness, and him in general. "Why can't I stop thinking about him…unless?" she stopped eating and had a horrible look on her face.

"Err, are you alright?" Bickslow asked.

"No, I'm really sorry but I need to leave now." Lucy took her purse and walked out of the restaurant in a rush.

Bickslow let out a sigh of relief. He didn't have anything against Lucy but he was forced by Mirajane to take Lucy on a date. During Laxus's bachelor party Bickslow almost got Laxus arrested, so Bickslow owed Mirajane a huge favor. Mirajane really shipped Lucy and Natsu together, so she told Bickslow to ask Lucy out, so Natsu would get jealous.

He could tell that Lucy's heart was not in the date, so maybe she had feelings for Natsu? He would report this Mirajane and hopefully his debt would be repaid.

Lucy was lost in her thoughts on the way to her apartment, "There is no way that I could like Natsu? He is my best friend!" she screamed internally.

She was walking on the platform near the river canal and didn't pay attention. Several boatsmen yelled out for her to be careful, but she was too busy in her own thoughts. Suddenly she slipped and fell in the water. Yet, she was not fazed at all because all she had on her mind was Natsu. Lucy simply climbed out of the river and continued to walk home. People gave her weird looks as she was completely drenched.

When she got to her apartment Natsu was there waiting for her. "What happened to you? Are you okay?" he said worriedly. He ushered into her apartment as she remained silent.

Natsu could tell that she did not feel like talking. So he pushed into her bathroom, "Take a warm bath, you will feel better." He left the bathroom and she just stood there.

Lucy slowly stripped down and stepped into the warm water. Once she sunk down to her neck, she started sobbing. "No, I can't have feelings for Natsu. It's not fair. Why did I have to fall for him?" she cried. Lucy kept thinking about the contract that she signed with her father that said he would choose her future partner.

She made up her mind, she was just going get over Natsu. That should be easy right? She dried herself off and wore her pajamas.

When she went to the kitchen, Natsu was making something. He turned around and gave her a huge smile. He passed her a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows in it. He could tell that she had been crying by looking at her puffy red eyes, but decided not to question her.

Lucy was touched, by his sweetness and realized that it would be a hard journey to get over Natsu.

 _Summer Vacation_

The school year was now finished and Erza and Cana had both graduated. Lucy and Natsu were at the train station waiting to go back home. She was about to get on her train, when she heard Natsu calling out, "Lucy, wait!"

She turned around and saw Natsu out of breath standing behind her. "What is it Natsu?" she asked.

He pulled something out from behind his back and it was a single red rose. He gave it to Lucy.

She blushed, "What is this for?" she asked. The rose was beautiful.

"I've noticed recently that you seemed a little down, I thought this would cheer you up." Natsu explained.

Lucy was flattered and touched. "Thank you Natsu." She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek and shyly smiled, "Have a great summer." Lucy turned around and left.

Natsu stood still with his hand on his cheek and had a dumb smile on his face.

Lucy boarded the train and became even more depressed. She knew that she fell in love with Natsu and it broke her heart that she could never be with him.

When she got home, she wasn't as lively as before. Lucy continued to interact with the maids and her father like normal, but Jude could tell that she wasn't happy.

One day Loke came to visit, Jude called him over to try to lift Lucy's spirits up.

Loke took one look at her and knew what was going on. When they were alone in her room, he asked "Who is it?"

Lucy was confused, "Wha-?"

"The one you are in love with." Loke interrupted.

Lucy laughed awkwardly, "There is no one, what are you talking about?"

Loke sighed, "Lucy, don't lie to me."

Lucy started tearing up, "Loke, I don't know what to do. I made a mistake, I have fallen in love with Natsu."

"Why are you so worried? I'm sure Natsu likes you back?" Loke was relieved, he knew that Natsu liked Lucy back.

"Huh?" she was confused. "No Loke, you don't get it, I can't fall in love with him." She explained her father's contract.

Loke understood, "I'm sure your father will understand if you explain it to him?"

"No, he can't know. I made a promise to my father and I never break my promises." Lucy said firmly.

Loke wrapped his arms around her, "Well maybe this summer you can try to mend your heart."

Lucy nodded and sobbed, "That's what I've been trying to do, but it hurts so much. Natsu is such an amazing person, I don't want to lose him."

Little did Loke and Lucy know, Jude was standing outside of the door and he heard the whole conversation. Now he had a decision to make.

* * *

*Understudy- a person who learns the lines, just in case something happens to main actor/actress and they sub in if necessary.

AN: What will Jude do? Some of the Sabertooth members will make an appearance next chapter. Please review what you guys think of the story so far.


	16. Chapter 16

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 16**

Jude stood outside the door pondering about what Lucy just said. Initially he was worried that Lucy would elope or run away, but he could see that she would uphold her end of the contract. He did want his daughter to be happy, but he wanted to ensure his daughter's future. She would one day be the CEO of the Heartfilia Corporation and the business world is already quite harsh towards women. If her future husband was a respectable man, her reputation would be more positive.

He sighed and walked away from the room, he would need to think about this more. However, for now he had other things to take care of.

The next day Jude called Lucy into his office. "Lucy I want you to get some more experience at the company, you will be joining a group of interns in the Management department."

Lucy contemplated this, an internship sounded interesting and it was a good way to learn more about the company. "Will I be going as your daughter or Lucy Ashley?" she asked. She didn't want any special treatment just because she was the CEO's daughter.

Jude allowed her to make the choice. She choose to go as Lucy Ashley and Jude thought that was a good decision.

Next morning she had one of the other driver, Taurus, drop her at the company. She couldn't be seen coming to the office with her father.

She meet with the other interns in the Management Department, Yukino, Sting, and Rogue. They were around the same age as her. Sting and Rogue were best friends and Sting reminded her of Natsu. They were quickly interrupted, "All of you, shut up!" a gorgeous middle aged lady yelled at them.

Lucy thought that she had seen the women before but could not remember where. "Alright I'm Aquarius and I'm your mentor."

Aquarius turned around and commanded, "Follow me." She quickly showed them around the building and gave them a short tour. "I'm expecting perfection from each of you. Failure to meet my expectations will result in your termination." The four of them looked terrified of their new boss.

They were given instructions on their tasks for the week. Lucy and Yukino worked together and became fast friends. Aquarius continued to be hard and strict on them.

Lucy enjoyed the work that she was doing and got a better knowledge of the company. She noticed that Sting was starting to develop a little crush on Yukino. However Yukino was not amused by his crazy antics.

One day, Sting was on a coffee run and when he came back he accidently tripped and spilled the coffee on Yukino. "I'm sorry." Sting stammered as he was scrambling for napkins. He ended up dapping on the areas where the coffee spilled and without realizing it he touched her breasts. Yukino became bright red and ran away to the bathroom. Sting stood still also blushing with a napkin in his hand.

Lucy was concerned about Yukino, so she ran to the bathroom as well. When she was inside the bathroom she heard, little sniffles. "Yukino, it's me Lucy. Are you okay?" she asked.

One of the stalls in the bathroom opened and she saw Yukino with tears in her eyes. "Why does he always humiliate me?" she cried. Lucy went forward to give Yukino a hug.

"I'm sure that today was an accident, he has no ill feelings towards you." Lucy tried to comfort her. However Yukino was not listening and was still angry towards Sting.

The next few days, Sting tried to apologize but Yukino kept ignoring him and stayed with Lucy. They were called into a meeting room with Aquarius in the afternoon on Monday. "Listen up, as your internship ends in a few weeks, you guys need to work on a project that you will present in a room of clients." Aquarius explained.

She brought a bowl with some folded papers inside. "You will work in pairs and the person whose name I pick out of the bowl may chose his or her partner." She shuffled her hand around and picked up a single sheet. "Lucy, choose who you will work with."

Lucy's initially instinct was to choose Yukino, but she supported Sting's crush on Yukino, so she blurted out "Rogue". Every person looked surprised at Lucy's choice including Aquarius. Yukino was mad, because she would have to work with Sting. Rogue was upset that he wouldn't get to work with his best friend and Sting was nervous about working with Yukino.

"Alright, scram!" Aquarius shooed them out of the room. Lucy grabbed Rogue and disappeared quickly.

She dragged Rogue to a corner and started explaining, "Look I know, I'm not the person you wanted to work with. However, I want Sting and Yukino to become closer so I picked you."

Rogue thought about what she said, Sting did tell him that he had a crush on Yukino. "Fine, I'll work with you."

"Geez, I'm not that bad." Lucy was amused by Rogue's reluctance. They started to plan their project and set up times to meet up.

Before Lucy could leave the office, she was ambushed by Yukino. "Why didn't you pick me?" she whined. "Now, I'm stuck with Sting."

"Was he that bad?" Lucy countered.

Yukino thought about it, "No, surprisingly he was serious and we got work done."

Lucy walked away, "See, he is not that bad."

"Hold up. That doesn't explain why you chose Rogue over me." Yukino wondered.

Lucy didn't know what to say, so she made a quick lie, "I'm a little interested in Rogue." Yukino lit up and start pestering Lucy about her "crush".

The next two weeks went by quickly. Rogue and Lucy were starting to finish up their project. Yukino slowly started to like Sting back and was impressed by his skills.

Finally their last day of the internship arrived and the two teams had to present their project to a group of clients and Aquarius.

The groups went in separately, Yukino and Sting went first. When Lucy and Rogue presented, she could see her father sitting in the corner of the room, not drawing attention to himself.

When they were done, she tried to look for Yukino but couldn't see her. When she was walking back to Rogue she heard some noises coming from the stairwell. Opening the door, she saw Yukino pinned to the wall by Sting and they were making out. Lucy let out a gasp and Yukino and Sting backed away from each other.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Lucy wiggled her eyebrows. The embarrassed pair fixed their clothes and appearance. The three of them went back to Rogue, who was unaware of the events that transpired in the stairwell.

Lucy had a dopey smile, seeing that Yukino and Sting finally admitted their feelings towards each other. However in a few minutes she began to think about Natsu and how she couldn't be with him. Her exuberant mood from before began to decline into sadness.

She wished farewell to Sting, Yukino, and Rogue as they completed the internship. Taurus was there waiting for her to drive her back home. However she was stopped by a loud voice, "Lucy, wait." She saw Aquarius walking towards her.

"I just wanted to say I was impressed by your work this summer. Layla would be proud of you." Aquarius turned around clearly embarrassed by praising Lucy.

"Wait you know my mother?" Lucy asked. That means Aquarius probably knew her real last name.

"Yes, I'm not blind. You look like her." Aquarius snapped. "Although, you lack some grace that she had."

Lucy ignored the insult, "How did you know my mother?"

"She and I were friends back in the days. She would never stop talking about you." Aquarius huffed trying to look disinterested.

"Could you tell me anything about her?" Lucy asked.

Aquarius felt sorry for Lucy, she lost her mother at a young age. "I'm busy." Aquarius took out a piece of paper and scribbled out something on it. She tossed it to Lucy. "Call me some time, I might answer." Aquarius walked away, leaving Lucy dumbfounded.

Lucy left holding the paper with Aquarius's number tightly in her hands.

When she reached her home, first thing she wanted to do was take a warm long bath. However as she walked up the stairs she heard her father call to her. "Lucy would you please join me in the study?"

She inwardly groaned and turned around, "'Yes, father." Lucy walked down the stairs and followed him to the study. He motioned for her to sit on the chair.

He stared at his daughter for a few moments before sighing, "Lucy you've been miserable this whole summer and I know why" He gave her a stack of papers, that said "Contract Modifications".

She took it and was very confused, "What is this?"

"It's a modified contract of the one you signed few years back. I'm taking out the clause about your future spouse." Jude explained.

Lucy stared at him dumbfounded, "What, why?" she questioned. She was grateful, but couldn't help but to think there was a catch for this.

Jude sighed, "Lucy, this entire summer you have barely smiled. As much as I would like for you to end up with someone of my choosing, your happiness is worth more to me."

Lucy ran over to her father and cried out "Thank you so much Papa."

Jude hugged her back and stroked her hair. "However, you will one day inherit the company, so you must protect your reputation. You will need the support of stockholders and clients, so I trust you to make the right decisions."

Lucy nodded, she thought about Natsu and what a kind and wonderful person he was. She knew she would make the right decision to be with him.

That night when she was in her room, she decided that she was going to confess to him when she goes back to school. She hoped that Natsu would accept her confession.

* * *

AN: Will Lucy be brave enough to confess lol? Also I shipped Sting and Yukino together. Aquarius and Taurus made a small appearance this chapter! Aquarius obviously tries to seem tough on the outside, but inside she has a kind heart.


	17. Chapter 17

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 17**

Lucy sat on the train watching the view go by. She was determined to confess to Natsu the next day.

The next morning, Lucy got up and put on a cute dress and some light make up on. She wanted to look her best when she confesses to the man she loves.

She looked in her mirror one last time and then headed towards the door. However she was stopped by a call on her phone. It was Levy and she need her help with her bookshelves.

"I can talk to Natsu in the afternoon." She thought and went to Fairy Hills. Levy got a new bookshelf (which Gajeel helped assembled) and she needed help sorting out her mountain of books.

Lucy got to Levy's place and looked at the enormous stacks of books. "This will take forever." Lucy inwardly whined. She suggested to Levy, "Maybe we could see if Juvia is available?"

Levy nodded and called Juvia, as she also lived in Fairy Hills. With Juvia there to help the three girls were able to finish by lunch time. Lucy left and went to a small café to buy a quick sandwich for herself. She ate it quickly, so she could go back to the apartment. However, she decided to buy some lunch for Natsu as well.

She got to his door, but before she could knock, the door swung wide open. "Oh hey, Luce." Natsu was confused. "What are you doing here? I'm about to go to Frosty's place for a bit. Do you need anything?" he asked.

Lucy was dejected, "Oh it's nothing, I just brought some lunch for you."

"I can cancel my thing with Gray if you want to hang out?" he offered.

"No, it's okay. You can take the lunch with you, there is enough for Gray as well." Lucy said. However, she was inwardly smacking herself for saying that.

"Thanks Luce." Natsu left.

Lucy stood there, watching Natsu leave. She missed her chance again. Oh well, she would just have to wait for him to come back.

She did a few things around the house to calm her nerves down, while waiting for him. She was sitting on a couch watching some TV, when she got another call. It was the lady who owned the 8-Island restaurant. "Hello ma'am." Lucy answered.

"Ah Lucy dear, you're back in town right? We are awfully understaffed today. Do you mind coming in today?" the owner frantically asked.

Lucy felt bad for the owner lady, so she said yes. As she got ready for work, she thought "I can probably tell Natsu in the evening."

When Lucy got to work she was so overwhelmed with the amount of customers and orders, that any thoughts of Natsu went to the back of her head. Time went by without her noticing and by the time the restaurant finally slowed down it was late at night.

Lucy felt tired and dejected, so she went back to her apartment and took a long nice bath to relax. She wore her pajamas and went to bed. As she laid down on her bed, she thought about the days' events. "Is the universe telling me not to be with to Natsu?" she wondered. Natsu lives right below her, but she still couldn't barely talk to him for few minutes today.

Lucy kept thinking for a while and then made up her mind. She got up, put on her slippers, and ran down to apartment beneath her. Her hair was still messy and she didn't have any make up on. She knocked frantically on his door and he opened after a few minutes looking all sleepy and cute.

She stared at him and without thinking she grabbed his head and kissed him. A second later, she pulled back and jabbed her finger into his chest "I like you, okay?" she said almost accusingly.

Poor Natsu was so sleepy and confused, "Lucy, what?" he was trying to figure out if this was a dream or reality.

Lucy realized her rashness and started to calm down. "Sorry Natsu, but I couldn't wait any longer. I really like you and I wanted you to know that. You are the first guy that ever made me feel this way and I want to be with you."

Natsu stood at his door, staring at her, contemplating what she just said. Of course he likes Lucy back, but the timing of this confession was so absurd that he didn't know how to respond.

Lucy teared up, thinking that Natsu didn't feel the same way about her. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way, we can still be friends." She turned around to hide her tears and started walking away.

Before she could take another step, Natsu grabbed her hand and swung her around. He kissed her back and she was so happy that she responded to the kiss. After a few minutes, Natsu pulled back and said, "Lucy, I like you too. No wait, I'm pretty sure I love you. You are the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about before I sleep. You have a sweetest, kindest soul and you are the best person I know. I love you."

Lucy was so touched that she started sobbing. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered "I love you too." Natsu hugged her more intimately and they stayed in each other's arms for the rest of the night.

 _Next Week_

Lucy was sitting in her room, finishing up some homework for her classes. She was starting her final year at the University. Suddenly she heard a knock on her bedroom door, it was Natsu, Lucy smiled as she walked up and gave him a chaste kiss.

"What's up Natsu?" she enquired.

He looked a little nervous and cleared his throat, "Ah Lucy, do you want to go on a date on Friday?"

Lucy was taken aback, she didn't expect him to ask her on a date. "Sure Natsu."

Natsu's face clearly brightened, "Alright! Wear something fancy, I'll pick up at six!" he ran out the door.

On Friday, after her classes Lucy spent time getting dolled up. She wore a royal blue dress that went up to her knees. The dress showed off a generous amount of her cleavage. She finished the look with a pair of silver strappy heels.

She looked at her watch, there was plenty time till Natsu would come, so she sat on her couch and watched some TV.

She heard the doorbell ring and when she opened the door she started to tease, "Oh so no coming through the window…" she trailed off and stared at Natsu. He was wearing a gray button down shirt, with black jeans and of course his scarf around his neck. "Wow you look nice." Lucy said bluntly.

Natsu blushed lightly, "Thanks. You look beautiful, Luce." He gave her a bouquet of roses and she thanked him. She put them in a vase and followed Natsu outside. They got into a taxi and went to the restaurant.

Natsu acted like a perfect gentleman, pulling out her chair for her to sit at the restaurant, knowing what to order on the menu. The restaurant was gorgeous, with a view of the river in front of them. He treated Lucy like a princess. After their fancy dinner, Lucy suggested they take a walk along the river.

She took his hand in hers and looked at the glittering water of the river. She was lost in thought thinking about the date. Lucy enjoys being pampered, but she wanted Natsu to have a good date as well.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Natsu asking her a question, "Lucy are you okay?" he asked. She looked up and found the solution to her dilemma.

"I'm alright. Just follow me." She grabbed his hand and started running towards the building that caught her eye, _Magnolia Arcade_.

She pulled out some cash from her purse and exchanged them for coins at the machine. "Natsu, let's play some games!" she said excitedly.

Natsu was confused, but he wasn't going to say no to playing arcade games. Lucy lead him to several games, she wanted to loosen him up. "I bet I can beat you at this." Lucy taunted.

Natsu got extremely heated up and they played bunch of games and lost track of time. They were currently playing _Dance, Dance, Revolution_. At this point Lucy took of her heels and her hair started to stick to her skin because of sweat. Natsu rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top of his shirt.

After playing an extremely intense game of _Dance, Dance, Revolution_ , Natsu suggested that they get some ice cream. They sat outside the arcade and ate their ice cream. Natsu was in deep thought, to be honest he enjoyed playing in the arcade more than the dinner. He realized that Lucy was thinking about him, when she brought them to the arcade. He looked at Lucy with her heels in her hand and ice cream in another. She really looked sexy with sweat dripping down her neck. He actually had to glare at some teens who wouldn't stop drooling over Lucy back in the arcade.

He watched her tongue nimbly lick the ice cream and he decided he had enough. He gobbled up the rest of his ice cream and scoped Lucy up in his hand. "Natsu, what?" she was bewildered. He didn't reply and continued jogging towards their apartment building.

He brought Lucy to his bedroom and gently laid her on his bed. He brought his face to hers and started kissing her hungrily. She was turned on by this dominant side of Natsu and she responded to him as well. He sucked on her neck and his hands found her breasts and started massaging them. Lucy was unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and traced his muscles.

His hands went underneath her dress and towards her panties. He was stopped by Lucy's hand, "Natsu I'm not ready yet." He snapped out of his lust driven mind and realized what he was doing.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry." He apologized and moved away from her.

"Don't be sorry, I enjoyed that thoroughly." Lucy assured and cuddled up to him. "I really had fun on our date."

He held her tightly and whispered, "Me, too. I love you." She smiled at him and fell asleep on him.

* * *

AN: So they are dating! I hope it wasn't too cheesy lol. To be honest, I find it HOT when guys roll their sleeves up. Reminder that this story is rated T so no lemons, but there are some naughty times. Tell me what you think about their first date.


	18. Chapter 18

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 18**

 _October_

Lucy and Natsu slowly announced their relationships to their friends and acquaintances. None of them were surprised about this new development, in fact some of them placed bets on when they would start dating.

For Halloween, the local orphanage was putting on a small Halloween Party for the kids and they needed some help from Fairy Tail. Juvia and Lucy love little kids so they dragged their boyfriends to do this job with them.

As always, Natsu and Gray were fighting, so Juvia made sure that they were in different places at all times.

Juvia instructed Gray specially, "Gray I admire your body, but for today please try to keep your clothes on, there are little kids here." Gray blushed and stopped unbuttoning his shirt.

Juvia was good a sewing, so she made some of the costumes for the children. While Juvia was working, she felt a tug on her skirt. She looked down and saw a little girl staring at her. "What is it sweetie?" Juvia asked.

"Are you a mermaid?" the little girl asked.

"Uh? Why do you think that?" Juvia was puzzled.

"You have blue hair and you are so pretty."

Juvia was flattered and knelt down to meet the girl face to face. "Sorry, sweetie Juvia is not a mermaid. But would you like to be one for Halloween? Juvia will make your costume extra shiny?" she suggested.

The girl beamed and gave Juvia a hug before skipping away. Juvia stared at the child reminiscing her own experiences in an orphanage with Gajeel.

Unbeknownst to her, Gray was watching the entire interaction with a smile on his face. He knows that his girlfriend is the sweetest person and has a good heart. She would just get a little intense and jealous for unnecessary reasons.

Later in the day, Juvia and Lucy were working on painting a sign, while Gray was helping one of the volunteers at the orphanage hang decorations. Juvia looked up from her work and then silently starting fuming. Lucy who was talking to Juvia, noticed that she was no longer responding. Lucy looked up and saw what Juvia was seeing. The volunteer that Gray was helping was outwardly flirting him without any shame. Lucy could see that Gray was being oblivious to the woman's advances, but she was sure Juvia failed to notice that.

"Juvia, don't make a big deal here." Lucy warned. She would hate for the joyful mood to become ugly.

Juvia turned to her with cold eyes, "Of course not. We are on a job and there is children around."

Lucy sighed in relief, at least Juvia had some common sense, she thought. She hoped things would be okay between them.

After a few more hours, the preparations for the party was complete. Juvia forgot all about her jealousy and focused on giving the kids a great Halloween.

Natsu made a huge piñata and Gray helped with the games. Lucy and Juvia were pleased with all their work in the orphanage. These kids deserve to have some magic and happiness.

After the party, the four of them stayed back to help clean up. Juvia was behind a door cleaning up the decorations when she heard some voices.

"Hey, thanks for the help today Gray." It was the bitch from earlier Juvia noticed.

"Uh sure. No problem, I really enjoyed hanging out with the kids." Gray responded while he was putting some materials away.

Juvia saw the volunteer prop herself up on a table, "So here's my number." She held out a piece of paper to Gray. "Maybe we can go out sometime."

Gray didn't take the paper, "I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend."

"That boring girl?" the volunteer asked disgusted.

Gray was starting to get irritated, "You better not insult Juvia. She is the most caring person you will ever meet and I'm lucky to be with her." Gray left the room with a flabbergasted volunteer and Juvia who was hidden.

After the other girl left, Juvia came out of her hiding place. She started to think, "How could I have been so blind?" she internally screamed. Gray was a wonderful boyfriend and he treated with nothing but patience and respect. She didn't deserve Gray she thought.

The four of them went to Natsu's apartment to watch a Halloween movie. Juvia was still somber, but none of the others noticed. Juvia was depressed during the movie, when a funny scene was playing everyone burst out into laughter. Juvia started laughing, but her laughter turned into sobs. Soon enough, she was sobbing and wailing.

Natsu paused the movie, "Juvia what's wrong?" he asked. Gray was looking at his girlfriend with concern as well. Lucy was wondering if Juvia was crying because of the flirting incident earlier, but she was not sure.

In between sobs Juvia wailed, "Gray…you…should…leave me…I'm a…bad…girlfriend."

Gray was confused, was Juvia breaking up with him? Either way he didn't want to have this conversations with friends listening in. So he asked Natsu if they could talk in his bedroom. Then Gray led a crying Juvia into Natsu's room.

He made Juvia sit on the bed and found some napkins. "Juvia, I will not talk to you, until you stop crying." Juvia nodded and attempted to bring her crying down. After few minutes, she stopped sobbing, but was still hiccupping.

Gray decided to talk now, "Now, did you cheat on me?" he was determined to figure out what was wrong.

Juvia looked offended, "Juvia would never!" she said fearlessly.

"Okay then do you not like me anymore?" he was scared about her answer. He liked Juvia a lot and maybe he did not show her enough affections he thought.

"Juvia loves Gray!" she cried out loud.

Gray sighed in relief, "So why are you crying?" he was still puzzled about her behavior.

Juvia started her rant about how she would get jealous and her previous stalker tendencies. She said how she was dull and lifeless compared to Gray and other girls. All of her insecurities from childhood came pouring out. Juvia felt that she was a depressing person raining on Gray's day.

Gray was overwhelmed with Juvia's confession. He did not know she was hiding so many insecurities, although he was concerned about the stalking thing. He thought that she was a beautiful person inside and out. "I still don't see any reason to break up with you."

"You should be with someone better. Not someone like Juvia." She said quietly, not looking at him.

He was starting to get angry, "What are you talking about?" he got up and stood over her. "You make me lunches, spend time on handmade gifts, and plan our dates. If anything, I don't deserve you."

Gray took a deep breath and knelt beside her, "I know I never said this, but I love you."

Juvia looked up at him with tears stained eyes, "You love Juvia?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course, I do. Who wouldn't?" he laughed.

Juvia started crying again, "Gray said he loves Juvia." She hugged him with so much force he fell onto the bed. She was crying in his shoulder. Gray comforted her and made a decision to be a better boyfriend. One who would be more affectionate and caring. Juvia did most of the work in their relationship, it was time for him to step up.

He turned her face and kissed her roughly. It became more sensual and he started pulling down the zipper to her dress. She tried her best not to moan out loud, but she couldn't help herself. Gray knew exactly how to pleasure her, based on their previous experiences of having sex.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Lucy were sitting on the couch trying to finish the movie, when they started hearing moaning from Natsu's bedroom. "Agh gross, are they having sex in my room?" he blanched. He started to walk to his room to stop them from escalating.

He was stopped by Lucy, "Leave them alone. Let's just finish the movie upstairs."

Natsu and Lucy finished the movie in her couch and they both fell asleep while watching. The next morning, Juvia apologized profusely for her behavior the previous night. She assured Natsu that she cleaned up his room completely.

"Err thanks, let's just forget that this happened?" Natsu suggested.

"Agreed." Gray said almost immediately, still embarrassed about what happened.

Lucy was happy for Juvia and Gray, so she didn't care about previous night's incident.

 _Two Weeks Later_

Finals was coming up in few weeks, so Lucy went to the library to study in the morning. She studied for a few hours but then got hungry. She grabbed a slice of pizza from a diner nearby and started walking back home.

Suddenly she felt two arms wrap around her, one around her waist and one holding a cloth over her mouth. She remembered her self-defense lessons and elbowed her attacker in the groin and twisted his arm around.

Her first thought was to run away, so she did. Unfortunately she did not get that far as she was stopped by another guy in front. Soon she was surrounded by a group of men. Lucy raised her hands up, she begged "I have some cash in my purse, take whatever you want."

The man who first grabbed her, walked and tied her hands up. He whispered in her ears "It's you we want." Her vision was blackened by a bag going over her head.

She felt herself being dragged into a car and tried to fight back. However, the guys who took her were very strong and she was thrown into the car.

When the hood was taken off, she could see a young man with white hair in a side ponytail and glasses. "Where am I?" she asked.

"That's not important." The man said looking at her from head to toe, "The question should be asking is why you are here."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Okay, so why am I here?"

"I believe I can answer that." A new voice spoke and Lucy saw a black hair man sitting in a chair several feet behind her.

The man got up from his chair and examined her. "I'm Zeref."

Lucy looked at him with a blank face, she never heard that name in her life.

Zeref looked at her curiously, "Oh, so he didn't mention me to you?" he wondered.

"Who?" Lucy was not sure what Zeref was talking about.

"Hmm, let me introduce myself again. My full name is Zeref Dragneel."

Her eyes widened at the mention of the last name. Natsu mentioned that he had a brother, maybe this was him she thought.

"Yes, I'm your beloved boyfriend's brother. Now my question is who are you and what are your intentions towards Natsu?" he asked dangerously.

"What are you talking about?" she cried. "Why did you have to kidnap me for this? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"It seems that you are confused. Would you like for me to explain to you?" Zeref asked with devilish grin. Lucy nodded. "Alright, so a few weeks ago my brother mentions that he is dating a girl named Lucy Ashley. Of course I'm happy for him, but as he is my precious brother, I looked into you. Imagine my surprise, when there is no record of a Lucy Ashley prior to entering college." Zeref's grin turned feral, "Who are you really?" he asked.

Lucy understood clearly, this Zeref person might have thought she was a spy or something. However she didn't feel comfortable telling her true identity to this Zeref person. She barely even knew him, what if he isn't Natsu's brother at all and just some random guy?

"Uh, I can't tell you my real name, but I promise that I truly love Natsu." Lucy said proudly.

The white hair guy came forward and slapped her. "Tell us who you are now!" he demanded. He raised his hand to strike her again, but was stopped by Zeref.

"Invel, stop." Zeref whispered angrily. Invel looked ashamed and retreated back.

Zeref now bent forward and looked at Lucy, "Now tell me the truth."

Lucy was scared now she had no idea what was going to happen to her. She started crying and confessing, "My name is Lucy Heartfilia…" She told him about how she wanted a normal college experience and so she had the fake name. Then she started crying about how she would never hurt Natsu and that she loves him.

Zeref and Invel stared at Lucy dumbfounded, they could tell that she was speaking the truth. They would have never expected her to be an heiress. They looked into her life and knew that she worked at a restaurant trying to pay her rent each month.

Zeref came forward and untied the rope around Lucy's hands. "Forgive me, Miss. Heartfilia." He helped her stand up, "I was furious about the fact that you were not Lucy Ashley, that I became blind to the rest of the facts about you."

He explained to her, "I've had many enemies in my life, so I always need to be prepared. I assure you that I'm not always like this, but ever since I've started my business I am always on guard. I've lost Natsu for a certain period of time and I didn't want anything to happen to him."

Lucy rubbed her wrists, "You own a business?" she was still terrified of Zeref, but was curious nevertheless.

Zeref chuckled, "Something like that." He now knew that Lucy was completely innocent and he felt guilty. "I'm ashamed for my behavior, Miss. Heartfilia."

Lucy was still suspicious about this total change in his behavior, but she wanted to be released, so she said, "It's alright."

Zeref led her to a car, "This will take you back to your apartment. Bye Miss. Heartfilia."

Before she could enter, she heard another voice. "Miss. Heartfilia, please forgive me as well." It was Invel the man who slapped her. Lucy was still upset, so she simply nodded.

On the car ride back, she thought about what just happened. She was wondering why Natsu never told her anything about Zeref. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about Natsu's family. However she couldn't be mad at him, because she was lying about her real identity.

When she got home, she saw Natsu siting on her couch. Natsu looked at her and came immediately to her side. "Lucy, what happened to you?" he frantically asked. She had bruises on her face and wrists and she looked disheveled.

Once Lucy heard Natsu's voice, she started crying again. She now truly felt safe. The whole kidnapping ordeal left her vulnerable and scared. Natsu always made her feel safe and sound.

* * *

AN: I made Juvia speak in the third person for most of the chapter. I wasn't sure if I should do it or not, but it's a Juvia thing so I added it. Also the Zeref kidnapping thing, I don't know how I feel about that. I wanted to make Zeref not evil, but obsessed with his brother. Zeref is a shady character, who I will explain more about in the next chapter.


	19. Chapter 19

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 18**

Lucy held on to Natsu tightly and ceased her sobbing slowly. She wiped the remaining tears on her face and looked at Natsu face. "I need to tell you something…" she told him.

He nodded and was expecting her to tell him how she got hurt.

She took a deep breath and said slowly, "My real name is not Lucy Ashley. It's actually Lucy Heartfilia."

Natsu was shocked, as he was a Business Major he was well aware of the big companies. The Heartfilia Corporation was huge! "Um…what?" he barely got out.

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, my father is Jude Heartfilia." Lucy said calmly, feeling a little bit more confident.

"Okay…so why the fake last name?" he asked.

"I wanted to be treated normally and it also was for my safety." Lucy watched Natsu carefully studying his reaction.

"Why are you telling me this now?" he was still confused and in disbelief.

"Because, I'm tired of keeping this secret from you. This is why I could not tell you about my family and where I live." Lucy admitted.

"So no one else knows?" he clarified.

"Only Loke and Dean Yajima." She admitted.

Natsu spent a few moments thinking about what Lucy said to him. He sighed, "I suppose you want to know more about my family as well."

"No, you don't have to tell me." Lucy just wanted to tell Natsu the truth about herself.

"Lucy, it's okay. I also haven't been entirely truthful about my past." Natsu confessed, "When I was seven both my parents died in a car crash. It was only me and my older brother Zeref who is ten years older than me. As Zeref was seventeen, he legally could live on his own, but could not get custody of me, so I was put in the foster system."

"Oh my god, that must have been traumatizing." Lucy sympathized.

"Actually it wasn't. I was adopted by a wonderful man named Igneel almost right away. My brother Zeref was not really pleased about that. He almost wanted control over me. Igneel was the best parent to me. A few years later, Zeref tried to fight in court for custody over me. However, Zeref became like a stranger to me and when the Judge asked me, I chose Igneel."

Natsu face got solemn, "Igneel raised me until he disappeared for a few months, when I was sixteen. Obviously I was devastated, but Zeref took me in, that's when I learnt that he built a huge business. He does shady business deals and I didn't approve of his practices. I wanted to escape, but I still needed to finish high school."

Lucy was hooked onto the story and was intensely listening to every word. Natsu continued on, "One day, I received a letter from Igneel saying that he was sorry that he left me. He said that he had to leave, but he gave me all his life savings. He told me that he wanted me to get an education. So I decided to go to college in Magnolia which was far away from Zeref."

"However, Zeref was furious and he didn't want me to go. I still applied to the school in secret without him knowing. Then one day after I was walking back from school, I knocked unconscious by a baseball bat. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair."

"You were kidnapped?" she gasped.

"Yes and the man who did it was seeking revenge on my brother Zeref. I was beaten up pretty badly and when my brother showed up, he immediately killed that man. I was horrified, but there was nothing I could do." Natsu stared out the window.

"The next few days, I was plagued with nightmares and horrified. Zeref felt guilty and realized that he had made tons of enemies over the years. He made a decision to disappear from the world and he faked his death."

"Whoa, that seems a little extreme." Lucy was terrified with the capabilities Zeref had.

"Ultimately, faking his death worked. He was able to start afresh with a new business by working in the shadows. Only a handful of people know that he is alive. He now tries to run an honest business, but sometimes he goes back to his old tactics." Natsu explained. "I don't really talk to him that much anymore, he does tries to send me money, but I refused it."

"Oh, so you don't really have family anymore?" Lucy felt sad for him.

"I mean during the holidays, I just go back to my hometown to visit my old friends from high school. Sometimes I go to Gray's place for a little bit. However, it does get lonely sometimes. I miss Igneel the most."

Lucy sympathized with him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for trusting me with your past." She kissed him and he responded with the same enthusiasm.

He pulled back, "Wait, why did you get hurt?" he almost forgot about it.

Lucy didn't want to further ruin the relationship between Natsu and Zeref, so she made up a lie. "There was this drunk pair of men, who was trying to force me into going to a hotel with them. It was a struggle, but I was able to escape." She didn't like lying to Natsu, but this was for his sake. From now on she made a promise to herself not to lie to Natsu again.

Natsu was furious, "Tell me where they are, I will go beat them up right now!" he was fired up.

"Don't worry, I kicked them in the balls." She resumed kissing him and tried to placate his anger.

She pulled off his shirt and traced her hand down to his shorts.

Natsu grabbed her hand, "Lucy don't tease me, I won't be able to control myself."

"What if I want you to lose control?" she playfully asked.

He became turned on and hungrily feasted upon her collarbone. He began removing her shirt and shorts. She was left in her bra and panty. "Lucy, are you sure about this?" he confirmed.

"Natsu I'm ready." Lucy replied with a sweet kiss.

He carried her from the couch to her bedroom and laid her gently on the bed.

The next morning Lucy felt a little sore, but she saw Natsu sleeping right next to her and smiled. He was gentle and made sure to give her pleasure as well. It was her first time having sex and she thankful that it was with Natsu.

 _Few Weeks Later_

It was finals week and Lucy was in her apartment studying for her exams. After a while, she decided to take a break and eat a snack. While she was preparing the food, she got a call from her dad.

"Hello Papa." She began slicing some strawberries.

"Hello Lucy. How are your exams going?"

"They are going well, I have studied." Lucy put the strawberries in the bowl.

Jude and Lucy talked for a few minutes while she was eating the fruit. She had mentioned months back that she was dating Natsu. Jude casually asked how Natsu was doing.

"Um, father I've told Natsu the truth about my identity." Lucy confessed.

There was silence on the line for a second, "How did he take it?" Jude asked.

"He understood. I was worried that he would be mad, but he took the news well."

"That is good." Once again there was an awkward silence. Jude suddenly spoke up, "Lucy since the winter holidays are coming up, would you want to invite Natsu to over to our place?"

Lucy was flabbergasted, "Are you sure?" she wanted to confirm if she heard correctly.

"Yes. I think it's time I met Natsu."

"Oh, okay I will ask him." Lucy said hesitantly. They talked for a few more minutes and then she had to go back to studying.

Few hours later, she went down to Natsu's apartment and they ordered pizza.

While she was eating a slice of pizza she said, "Natsu, my father is inviting you to our house for winter break."

Natsu immediately choked on his pizza, "What?" he stuttered.

Lucy continued eating, "You don't have to come, if you don't want to."

"Of course, I want to spend the holidays with you. I was just a little surprised that your father wants to meet me."

"Why? I talked about you to him all the time, even before we were dating."

Natsu thought about it, "Yes. I want to go to your home."

* * *

AN: I realize that the kidnapping plot in the previous chapter seems a little random, but I hope that you understand Zeref more as a character. He might not make an appearance in the story. Also I won't be explaining why Igneel left Natsu, sorry about that. Next chapter, Natsu visits the Heartfilia Mansion.


	20. Chapter 20

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters_

 **Chapter 20**

Natsu and Lucy stepped out of the train carrying their bags. Lucy saw Capricorn waiting for them. Capricorn came forward and bowed to Lucy, "Welcome back mistress." He turned to Natsu and shook his hand, "Hello, I'm Capricorn."

Capricorn took their bags and led them to the car. Natsu started to feel nervous, what if he makes a fool out of himself, he thought. Lucy slid her hand into his and interlocked them, "Don't worry," she whispered, "I will be here with you."

When they walked towards the house, Lucy saw her father and Loke standing next to him, surprisingly. She didn't know that he would be coming as well. She approached her father and gave him a hug. "Hello Papa, this is Natsu."

Jude looked over Natsu and shook his hand. "Hello, I'm Jude Heartfilia. Welcome to our home."

"Hi, I'm Natsu Dragneel." Natsu stared at the glamorous mansion right in front of him. He suddenly blurted out, "I'm dating your daughter."

Jude raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I'm aware of that. Lucy told me."

Natsu didn't know what to say, "Oh, cool." He was at a loss for words. Loke, who was watching the whole exchange, had a hard time controlling his laughter; Lucy nudged him in the guts.

Jude invited Loke for the holidays, to make it less awkward for Natsu. Loke knew that Natsu and Jude had completely different personalities, so he was interested to see their interactions.

The four of them entered the household and Virgo came up to Natsu. "Master Natsu, let me show you to your room."

Natsu, who was not used to the royal treatment, quietly followed Virgo to his room. Jude made sure to put Natsu on the opposite end of the house from Lucy's room. However, Loke was staying in the guestroom next to Natsu to give him company.

Natsu entered his room and Virgo informed him, "Master Jude requests your presence at dinner in two hours." He nodded and watched her leave the room. He sighed, he felt completely out of place. He heard a knock on the door and saw Loke and Lucy entering.

Loke started grinning, "So have you two gone all the way?"

Natsu started coughing and Lucy looked scandalized, "Loke!" she hit him.

Loke raised both of his hands up, "Alright, alright I won't ask for details. All I want to know is if you guys are using protection."

Lucy's face turned bright red, "That's none of your business!" she pushed him out of the room.

Natsu cleared his throat, "So this is where you live, huh?" his eyes wandered.

"Yeah, I know it's a little intense, but this is how I grew up." Lucy admitted.

"It definitely take some time for me to get used to it." Natsu pondered, "Wait, so you could live in a nicer apartment then the one that you currently live in?"

Lucy smiled, "I could technically live in a nicer place, but I wanted to earn the money myself. So my current apartment is good for my budget."

Natsu leaned forward and gave her a chaste kiss. "This will be our first Christmas together."

Lucy thought about it, "Yes that's right. Anyways, I'm going to get ready for dinner." Lucy left Natsu in his room.

Dinner was better affair, Lucy and Loke did the most of the talking. Jude did ask Natsu several questions too.

The next day, Loke, Lucy and Natsu went to a winter festival. Natsu and Loke ate a bunch of foods and competed in the games. They were in an café ordering hot chocolate, when suddenly Loke stopped talking. Lucy and Natsu looked where Loke was staring. They saw a pink hair women with curls on the bottom.

"Uh Loke, what's wrong?" she asked.

"That women is the one." His eyes started glittering, he got up and went to talk to the women.

Lucy rolled her eyes, she knew of Loke's playboy antics. She didn't believe him, but when he does find one person to settle down with, she would support him all the way.

Natsu piped up, "Let's ditch him and go to the park." Lucy nodded and followed him. He held her hand and gave it a gentle kiss.

He stopped suddenly, "I know it's not Christmas yet, but I wanted to give your present early."

"Oh? I don't have your present with me right now." Lucy felt bad.

Natsu waved it off, "No, it's okay." He took out a box from his pockets and gave it to her. She opened it and saw a necklace inside. It was simple necklace, with a diamond star pendant. Lucy gasped in the beauty of it. "Sorry, it's so small. It's all I can afford right now."

"No it's perfect." She reached up to him and gave him a kiss. She turned around, "Put it on me." She gave the necklace back to Natsu. He put it around her neck and clasped it close.

He gave her a hug from behind, "Merry Christmas, Lucy."

 _Two weeks Later_

Natsu was in his room packing to leave the Heartfilia mansion. He enjoyed Christmas and New Year's with Lucy and her father. Now it was time to go back to school to finish his last semester. He heard a knock on the door, "Come in." he responded. He turned around and saw Jude walking in.

"Oh hello, Mr. Heartfilia." Natsu still felt a little awkward around Lucy's father, even though they spent few weeks together.

"Hello, Natsu." Jude gave a small smile, "I just wanted to ask you a few questions, before you leave." Natsu nodded for Jude to continue. "What made you fall for my daughter?" he asked.

Natsu didn't even take a second to think about it, "Her compassion." He continued on, "She is kind to everyone and tries her best to help others with their problems. She just makes my day better, just by being there."

Jude was shocked about how strongly Natsu felt towards Lucy, but didn't show it. "Are you aware that one day, Lucy will inherit the company? Will that be okay with you?"

"I will have to try sir. As you can tell, I'm not really used to this kind of lifestyle, but I'm willing to help Lucy in any way that I can."

Jude thought about Natsu's answer and decided that he can trust him. "There is one more thing I needed to tell you." He took Natsu's hand and held it between both of his. "I must thank you for taking care of Lucy all these years. Before the University, Lucy never left home by herself. From what I heard, you have been there for her all through out."

Natsu looked up at Jude with determined eyes, "No need to thank me sir. I love Lucy."

Jude shook Natsu's hand and smiled, "Call me Jude."

 _February_

Lucy and Natsu were so busy with their school work that they barely had time to go on any dates. They were both determined to do something special for Valentine's day. Natsu made a reservation at a restaurant and Lucy bought a dress and some lingerie.

The weekend before Valentines, Natsu and Lucy took a job for Fairy Tail. They were helping out an old couple William and Katherine Harris.

Lucy knocked on the couple's door when they reached the address. An old man opened it up, "Hello!" he beamed and let them in. "You've come at a good time. My wife isn't home."

They sat down on the couch and listened to William speak, "Tomorrow my wife and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary."

"Wow, that's amazing. Congratulations!" Lucy gushed out. She really believed in finding a soul mate and staying with them forever.

"Thank you, dear." William pulled out an old photo album. "When we first got married we buried a little box in the Magnolia park forest. I was wondering if you guys could help me find it, I've become too weak to attempt to retrieve the box myself." William took out a piece of paper and began to draw on it. "Now I realize that this task might be impossible, the park could have changed a lot in the past 50 years and there is still snow on the ground. However, I would be content if you guys could just try to look for it."

William handed them an hand drawn map of the forest and the spot that the box was hidden. Natsu and Lucy were determined to find that box. William led them to a shed outside in the garden and gave them some shovels and tools. William wished them good luck and they left the house.

The Magnolia Park Forest was a public park which was filled with hiking trails, playgrounds, lakes, and an Amphitheatre. It was Magonlia's way of preserving the forest as well as providing a dose of nature to the public.

They both stood in front of the park map, trying to decipher the area where the box was hidden, comparing it the map William gave them. Eventually they were able to find the location of the box. Lucy and Natsu hiked to the location while enjoying the view.

When they reached, they had to first dig out the layer of snow first. There was a layer of snow about 1 feet covering the forest. They both took out the shovel and starting digging. Soon, Natsu got a little mischievous and threw a snowball at Lucy.

"Natsu!" she squeaked. She starting chasing him and throwing snowballs of her own at him. She ran after him and attempted to avoid the snowballs he threw at her. She caught up to Natsu and tackled him to the ground. Lucy ended up on top of Natsu and when she opened her eyes she saw Natsu smiling up at her.

Lucy gave Natsu a long kiss and then pulled away, "C'mon we need to find the box, it will become dark soon."

After they dug out the snow, they finally reached the layer of dirt. They began digging into the thick layer of dirt and mud. They were both starting to get tired and blisters on their hands, but they still persisted. The sun was starting to set, but Lucy insisted that they keep digging.

Suddenly a metal clang hit the shovel, excited they both dug faster and was able to see a metal box in the hole. "We found it!" Natsu laughed and pulled the box out. However they had to refill the hole in before they could leave.

It was pitch black by the time they left the Magnolia Park Forest. Both of them were freezing cold, but they had to deliver the box to William. They knocked on the door and William opened it. "Oh! You guys must be freezing!" he said. William led them to the fireplace and gave some towels to wrap around themselves.

Lucy thanked him and she pulled out the box from her bag. "You found it?" he said in disbelief. His eyes started to get watery, "Thank you so much."

"William what is going on?" another voice came from several feet away. An old woman started walking towards them, "Who are they?" she asked confusedly.

"Katherine, they are Lucy and Natsu." William introduced his wife to the young couple. "They helped me find something important." He led Katherine to the couch and sat beside her. "I know our anniversary is tomorrow, but I will give this to you right now."

Katherine looked at the box confused at first, but then recognition filed her eyes, "Is this the box we buried in the Magnolia Park Forest?" she gently asked with tears filing her eyes.

"Yes, I've asked Natsu and Lucy to dig it out." William replied. She opened it and the memories started pouring in.

"Thank you." Katherine told Natsu and Lucy. They spent few hours talking about each knickknack in the box. Katherine made them some hot chocolates and gave them cookies. Katherine and William told them that they started dating at 18 and then got married at 20. In the box were some pictures, few love notes, and souvenirs from their dates.

Lucy beamed in happiness, she was extremely glad that she took this job.

The next day both Natsu and Lucy got quite sick. Even though they were wearing warm clothes, spending that much time in the cold made them sick. In the night Lucy's fever subsided, even though she was feeling much better, she knew that it would still be a couple of days before she felt normal.

Natsu came up to her huddled in his own blanket and gave her medicine, "I guess we can't celebrate Valentine's Day like we wanted to." There was no way they would feel better by tomorrow.

Lucy smiled at him, "I don't mind. All I want to do is spend the day with you."

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AN: Next chapter might be the last one! I hope you guys enjoyed the fluff in this chapter. You guys know who the pink hair woman in the café was right?


	21. Chapter 21

_I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters._

 **Chapter 21**

 _Spring Break_

Lucy was leaving her father's office early and was heading back to the mansion. It was spring break and she was back home. She was currently helping Jude with some company business. She gave her father a hug and walked into the car with Capricorn.

The next morning she joined her father at breakfast, "Good morning papa." She pulled out the chair next to him and sat down to eat.

Jude was mixing his coffee, "Good morning Lucy." Virgo brought him the morning newspaper and he started reading it. Upon reading the headlines, he began choking on his coffee.

"What's wrong papa?" she intrigued to know what made her father lose his composure. Jude gave her the newspaper and began dialing a number on his phone.

Lucy paled upon reading the headline, _CEO Jude Heartfilia romancing a mysterious woman?_ It was a picture of Lucy hugging her father. Her face was not visible, just the back of her head. Jude started putting his coat on. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Jude sighed, "I need to go deal with this scandal. It won't be good for the company."

"Why? You haven't done anything wrong?" she was curious.

"The company shareholders expects me to avoid any scandals. Even though I haven't done anything wrong, the press will focus on this 'mysterious woman' for a while, which will bring the wrong attention to the company."

"Oh, I'm sorry father. Is there anything I can do?" she wanted to help.

"I'm not sure Lucy, I have to go meet with the lawyers now." He gave her a peck on her head and left the dining room.

Lucy spent the whole day worried about her father. She decided to call Loke.

"Hello princess. How are you?" her cousin smoothly answered.

"Loke, you've seen the newspapers." She then proceeded to tell him what her father told her.

Loke sighed, "Lucy I'm not going to sugar coat it. Several people who work with me think that the 'woman' in the picture is an escort. There are many rumors and theories flying around in the office."

Lucy's eyes widened, "This would paint my father in a negative light, wouldn't it?" she didn't want that to happen. "Is there anything that could be done."

Loke thought about it, "Well you could… nevermind it's not possible."

"What? Do you have an idea?" she was curious as to what Loke thought.

"Maybe, this would be the perfect time to introduce Lucy Heartfilia to the public. You are almost done with University and you were planning on joining the company anyways right?" he asked.

"Oh okay, I will think about." She hesitantly answered. To be completely honest, she enjoyed being Lucy Ashley because she was treated normally. However, she knew that from the beginning that Lucy Ashley was only temporary life.

She made up her mind and waited for her father to arrive home.

Jude came home late that night, he just wanted to drink some vodka and sleep. However, as soon as he opened the door, Lucy was waiting for him.

"How did it go?" she asked.

He sighed, "Not well, some of the stocks have dropped. The lawyers and I are still trying to find a solution."

Lucy bit her lip, "Father, what if we tell the public the truth? Tell them that I'm your daughter. You were planning on introducing me to the company eventually, we can just do it earlier?" she suggested.

Jude was astounded, "Lucy, I can't ask you do that."

"No, I want to. I don't want the company to suffer." She was determined, her mother and father put their time and soul into the company.

Jude replied, "Alright, if you are completely sure." Lucy nodded. "Okay, I will arrange a press conference in the morning."

 _Next Morning_

Lucy stood in front of the doors, looking over her appearance once again. She was a wearing a black blazer with a maroon dress underneath. She was extremely nervous and remembered the conversation she had with Natsu the night before.

She called to let him know that she was doing a press conference. Lucy warned Natsu about the sudden media attention that would be focused on her. She also asked him to tell their friends that she was sorry about hiding her real identity, since he was in Magnolia.

Jude came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "You know it's not too late to back out if you want to."

Lucy shook her head and said with a determined face, "No, I am ready to do this."

Her father squeezed her hand and entered the room first. She could hear him from the outside. "Hello, I'm Jude Heartfilia. I understand that you all have questions about the mystery woman. However I will not be answering them; instead she is here to explain herself."

The doors opened and she saw a little platform with her father standing on it. The audience was filled with cameras and reporters. She walked up gracefully and joined her father on stage.

Lucy took a deep breath and took the microphone in her hands. "Hello everyone, my name is Lucy Ashley Heartfilia." She heard a huge murmur around the room and cameras were flashing rapidly. "I'm the daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia. I'm currently a student at Magnolia University, under the name Lucy Ashley. I did not mean to deceive anyone, I just simply wanted to experience a normal college lifestyle. I hope you all can understand my actions. I would be happy to answer any questions."

Jude and Lucy spent the next hour answer questions from the reporters, before the ending the press conference. Capricorn led the two of them into the car and they headed home. "You did good Lucy, I'm proud of the way you handled the reporters." Lucy just smiled at him.

When they got back home, Lucy went right away to take a warm bath. She needed to wash away the stress which had accumulated.

After her shower, she checked her phone and got bunch of messages from her friends.

 _Levy: I watched the press conference, I understand why you needed to keep your identity a secret. However, I wish that you could have trusted me to keep your secret._

 _Loke: Princess, you did a wonderful job handling yourself._

 _Gray: Hey saw your interview, if you need anything I am there for you._

 _Gajeel: Wow bunny girl who'd thought you were rich, you complain about your rent every month._

 _Erza: Tell me if you need any protection, I will hunt down anyone who slanders your name._

 _Sting: So you were interning for your own company? That's badass!_

 _Cana: Hey girl, I know how it's like having fathers who are way too busy in their work. If you want to talk, I'm here for you._

 _Yukino: Hello Lucy, Sting and I are still dating thanks to you. The internship was really fun with you, let me know if you need anything._

 _Juvia: Juvia will help Lucy if she needs it!_

Lucy smiled, it looks like her friends weren't mad at her. She spent the rest of the night chatting and replying to their texts.

The next few days, Lucy remained in the center of the public eye. First they thought Lucy was lying about her parentage, but then a picture of Layla popped up and the uncanny resemblance shut that rumor up immediately. Then people were speculating that she was born out of wedlock so that's why she was kept hidden. However her birth certificate proved that she born after her parent's marriage.

The public seemed to be divided over Lucy, some thought she was a rich brat and some were able to see her good qualities.

What really helped her reputation was a lot were pictures from her university life. Pictures from her volunteer time at Fairy Tail started appearing. The Magnolia Police released a picture saying that she was a key part in taking down the Phantom Lord gang. There was a video of her at the ice skating rink with Gray. Her coworkers at the restaurant said she was a hard worker. Her relationship with Natsu was also exposed as well. Her classmates and friends spoke positively about her. Not surprisingly the company stocks went back up.

While she was glad that the whole thing died down, she unfortunately could not return to the University alone. Her father had to send Taurus along with her as a bodyguard. One thing that made her happy was that she could graduate as Lucy Heartfilia.

When she returned back to her classes she begged Taurus to watch over her from afar. After all, she had Natsu with her most of the time anyway. Some of the students would point and stare at her, but they knew better than to approach her.

Over the weekend she hung out with Levy, Gray, Gajeel, Juvia, and Natsu. Lucy explained her whole situation in detail and hoped that they would understand. To her relief they were not mad at her. The six of them were getting some pizza and sitting at a park bench.

Suddenly she heard two girls who were chattering from another park bench. "You see that blonde girl? She is Lucy Heartfilia." One of the girls said.

Her friend responded, "Wow that's Lucy Heartfilia? She is so pretty."

The first girl who was obviously jealous replied, "You think that's natural? She probably got plastic surgery done, I mean look at the size of her boobs, they are obviously fake."

Natsu, who heard this, got up and roared, "I felt her boobs before and trust me they are one hundred percent real!"

"Natsu!" Lucy slapped him in the arm and covered her breasts by crossing her arms. Gajeel and Gray were dying of laughter. Natsu, who realized the implication of what he said, became red and hid his face behind his scarf. Even Levy and Juvia giggled quietly.

 _Few Weeks Later_

Lucy finished her finals and was hanging out with Natsu at the park. Graduation was in two days. Natsu was talking to her about one of his fights with Gray and she was only partly listening.

"Hey what's up?" he asked. He could tell that she was distracted and that something was bothering her.

Lucy was pulled away from her thoughts, "Hmm, nothing."

"C'mon Luce, you can tell me."

Lucy sighed and decided to tell him what was on her mind. "I'm just worried. It feels like everything is going by so quickly. Soon I will need to leave Magnolia to go back home and I will really miss it. I would have to say bye to so many friends and I will miss the city. Worst thing is I don't know what will happen to us. I mean I love you, but I have to go back to the company and you found a job here. What will happen to us?" she whispered out.

Natsu took her hand in his, "We were lucky to spend four years together. Our relationship is so strong, that I don't think distance will break it. I know it will suck at first, but even I don't know what the future holds for us. All I do know is that I'm willing to fight for us. Are you?" he gently asked.

She looked into his eyes and saw his determination, "Yes."

 _Graduation Day_

Lucy stood in her room staring at the mirror. She was wearing a light pink dress, which was hidden by the long black graduation robes. Today was the day that she will receive her diploma and graduate.

Her thoughts were broken by a knock on the door. When she opened it she saw Jude. "Papa!" she gave him a huge hug. "I didn't know you were coming."

Jude looked at her proudly, "I wouldn't miss my daughter graduating for anything in the world."

She simply just beamed at him.

Lucy was standing behind a huge line of other students waiting for her name to be called.

"Lucy Heartfilia." Her legs carried her on the stage and she accepted her diploma. When she looked at the front, she saw her father sitting with Loke and Capricorn. Looking to her left she saw her friends and Natsu standing in line.

She smiled, all her worries left her and she knew that she was ready to face anything.

End

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AN: Wow, I can't believe I finished this story. Since the story was about her time in University, I had to end it when she graduated. This is my first completed story! I never knew that I would be able to write fan fiction, but I'm glad I took the leap and did it. I'm not sure if I will write an epilogue, because to be honest I don't know what to write. Also thank you to everyone who read and reviewed.


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